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• US president claims ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’ obliterated N-sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan
• Livid Iran condemns ‘barbaric violation,’ warns of serious consequences; threatens to block Strait of Hormuz
• Vance says ‘not at war with Iran’; Hegseth claims contact with Tehran via private channels
• Pentagon says B-2 bombers flew from US, details use of bunker busters, Tomahawk missiles
• IAEA reports no increase in radiation levels so far
WASHINGTON: After days of ‘will they-won’t they’ speculation, the United States launches strikes against three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, including the deep Fordow enrichment facility, thrusting the US directly into the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict alongside Israel.
In a televised address hours after revealing the strikes on social media, President Donald Trump declared that the key nuclear facilities “totally and completely obliterated.”
“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity,” Trump said, calling it a “spectacular military success.”
Trump warned Iran’s leaders they “must now make peace” or face further assaults.
“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” he said, adding, “Remember, there are many targets left.”
The attacks mark a significant escalation for Trump, who has both warned of US military might and campaigned on avoiding new foreign wars.
Sites struck
The US struck three key nuclear facilities — Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan — between 6:40pm and 7:05pm. Eastern time, US officials said.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Dan Caine said ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’ involved 125 US military aircraft, including seven B-2 stealth bombers that undertook an 18-hour flight from the US, and more than 75 precision-guided weapons were used in the attack.
The heavily fortified Fordo site, built deep inside a mountain south of Tehran, was a primary target.
Gen Caine said the B-2s dropped two ‘bunker-buster’ bombs known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs, on the site at Fordow.
He added, a total of 14 MOPs, each weighing 30,000 pounds, were used by the seven B-2s at Fordow and Natanz, Iran’s largest uranium enrichment centre that was previously damaged in Israeli strikes.
“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface-to-air missile systems did not see us. Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise,” Gen Caine said.
Both Natanz and the Isfahan nuclear site were also targeted by Tomahawk cruise missiles.
He also confirmed “more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from a US submarine at targets at the Isfahan site”.
An “initial battle damage assessment indicates that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” he said.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth added, “all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect.”
Mr Hegseth stressed the operation did not target Iranian troops or people and “was not, and has not been about regime change.”
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation confirmed the attacks, calling them a “barbaric violation.” Meanwhile, officials said the sites were evacuated and nuclear material moved.
Iran’s reaction
A livid Iran declared on Sunday that the United States will be “solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences” of its military strikes, accusing President Trump of betraying American voters by submitting to Israeli wishes.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking at an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Istanbul, said the US crossed “a very big red line.”
He condemned the attacks as an “outrageous, grave and unprecedented violation of the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.”
Araghchi called on the UN Security Council to act against what he termed a “warmongering and lawless” US administration. He dismissed any demand for new nuclear negotiations as “irrelevant,” saying on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel and the US had “decided to blow up that diplomacy.”
Following his address, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Any retaliation by Iran against the united states of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Sunday that the United States should “expect regrettable responses,” describing any retaliation as “legitimate self-defence.”
“The bases and locations used by the forces that carried out the attacks have been identified,” the IRGC said in a statement.
Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will decide on closing the Strait of Hormuz after US raids, as parliament supports the move, according to Iran’s Press TV.
The state-owned broadcaster reported that Iran’s legislature agreed to close the strait, but the final decision is up to the Supreme National Security Council.
The Strait of Hormuz is vital for 20pc of global oil and gas.
‘Not at war with Iran’
Defence Secretary Hegseth, at a Pentagon briefing, claimed that Iran’s nuclear ambitions “have been obliterated”.
He added the US was in contact with Iran through public and private channels, saying, “They understand precisely what the American position is, precisely what steps they can take to allow for peace – and we hope they do so.”
US Vice President JD Vance said on NBC, “We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme.”
He asserted the strikes pushed Iran’s program back by “many, many years” and that President Trump had “clear authority to act to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to CBS, said the US has no current plans for further attacks unless Iran retaliates.
“What happens next will now depend on what Iran chooses to do next,” Mr Rubio said.
“If they choose the path of diplomacy, we’re ready... If they choose another route, then there will be consequences for that.”
He called the idea of Iran closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz a “suicidal move.”
No radiation leaks
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that no abnormal radiation levels have been recorded following the recent airstrikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the US.
In a post on X, the IAEA stated: “Following attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran — including Fordow — the IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time. IAEA will provide further assessments on situation in Iran as more information becomes available.”
The agency also reported the targeted facilities contained “little or no nuclear material.”
Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2025
