EditThe U.S. strikes Iran, Trump says Iran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities have been obliterated
Trump's decision to join Israel's military campaign against its major rival Iran represents a major escalation of the conflict
U.S. forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a “very successful attack,” President Donald Trump said on Saturday, adding that Tehran’s nuclear program had been obliterated.
After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign against its major rival Iran represents a major escalation of the conflict.
“The strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump said in a televised Oval Office address. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
In a speech that lasted just over three minutes, Trump said Iran’s future held “either peace or tragedy,” and that there were many other targets that could be hit by the U.S. military.
“If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.”
Trump told Reuters after he announced the U.S. bombed nuclear sites in Iran: “This was an amazing success tonight.”
“Just a great success. These incredible pilots and geniuses who did this are amazing and as you know all three places are totally destroyed. We went in and finished up the other two. Fordow is gone and the other two are gone now,” said Trump.
On Iran, he said “they should make peace immediately. They should stop immediately. Otherwise they’ll get hit again. They should make peace immediately or they’ll get hit again.”
The U.S. reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the U.S. plans and it does not aim for regime change, CBS News reported.
Three facilities attacked
Trump said U.S. forces struck Iran’s three principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. He told Fox News six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites.
U.S. B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump posted. “Fordow is gone.”
“IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR,” he added.
Reuters had reported earlier on Saturday the movement of the B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry massive bombs that experts say would be needed to strike Fordow, which is buried under a mountain south of Tehran.
The US used six B-2 bombers to drop 12 “bunker-busting” bombs on Fordow, an official told CNN. The GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, known as a “bunker-busting” bomb, is a 30,000-kilogram bomb with 6,000 kilograms of explosive.
Navy submarines fired 30 TLAM cruise missiles at two other sites, Natanz and Isfahan, and a B-2 dropped two bunker-busting bombs on Natanz, the official said.
An Iranian official, cited by Tasnim news agency, confirmed that part of the Fordow site was attacked by “enemy airstrikes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on his “bold decision” which he said will change history.
“History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime, the world’s most dangerous weapons,” Netanyahu said.
Diplomacy unsuccessful
The strikes came as Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat that has resulted in deaths and injuries in both countries.
Israel launched the attacks on Iran saying that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Diplomatic efforts by Western nations to stop the hostilities have been unsuccessful.
The diplomatic efforts of the European Union, spearheaded by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, alongside EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, faltered in Geneva on June 20, 2025, as their meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi yielded no breakthrough in de-escalating the Israel-Iran conflict or advancing nuclear negotiations.
In recent days, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have argued that Trump must receive permission from the U.S. Congress before committing the U.S. military to any combat against Iran.
Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi applauded the operation but cautioned that the U.S. now faced “very serious choices ahead.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, a Republican, said that despite the heavy U.S. bombings over Iran, “This war is Israel’s war, not our war.”
He added, “There will not be American boots on the ground in Iran.”
One Republican lawmaker, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, simply said, “This is not constitutional.”
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said the U.S. public “is overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S. waging war on Iran” and accused Trump of displaying “horrible judgment.”
Israel launched attacks on 13 June, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies.
At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the health ministry.
In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed by Iranian missile attacks, according to local authorities, in the worst conflict between the longtime enemies. More than 450 Iranian missiles have been fired towards Israel, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Israeli officials said 1,272 people have been injured since the beginning of the hostilities, with 14 in serious condition.
What next?
What Trump hailed as a “spectacular military success” has thrust the Middle East into a precarious new phase, with significant regional and global repercussions likely to unfold.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, while acknowledging the attacks, defiantly vowed to continue its nuclear program, signalling resilience despite the loss of key infrastructure.
Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have promised retaliation, potentially targeting U.S. military bases in the region or disrupting global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil chokepoint. This could escalate into a broader conflict, drawing in Iran’s proxies like Hezbollah or prompting asymmetric attacks, such as cyberattacks or terrorism, given Iran’s history of unconventional warfare.
Diplomatically, the strikes have further eroded prospects for de-escalation, following the failure of EU-led talks in Geneva on 20 June.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. action as a “recipe for all-out war,” and the lack of progress in nuclear negotiations – already stalled over Iran’s refusal to halt enrichment – suggests Tehran may now accelerate its nuclear ambitions or exit the Non-Proliferation Treaty, as some Iranian lawmakers have proposed.
China and Russia, who in March 2025 declared support for Iran’s nuclear energy program, may intensify their backing, potentially supplying advanced air defences or diplomatic cover at the UN, complicating Western efforts to isolate Tehran.
With Reuters and CNN, edited by g.g.
Caption: US President Donald Trump with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (R), US Vice President JD Vance (L) and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-R) delivers an address to the nation at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 June 2025, following US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. EPA/Carlos Barria / POOL
Updated: June 22, 2025 - 05:39
