WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Saturday that US forces had destroyed Iran’s main nuclear sites in a major airstrike.
He called the attacks a “spectacular success” and claimed Iran’s nuclear programme had been completely wiped out. The strikes targeted three key locations — Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow.
Following days of deliberation—and well before his self-imposed two-week deadline—Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign against its regional rival marks a major escalation in the conflict.
“The strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump said during a televised address from the Oval Office. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
In a speech lasting just over three minutes, Trump said Iran’s future now held “either peace or tragedy” and warned that many other targets could be hit by the US military.
“If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.”
According to CBS News, the US reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to stress that the strikes were the full extent of US military plans and that Washington does not seek regime change.
Trump said US forces had struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow. He told Fox News that six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired at other nuclear facilities.
US B-2 bombers took part in the strikes, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump posted on social media. “Fordow is gone.”
“IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Reuters had reported movements of the B-2 bombers, which are capable of carrying the type of powerful bombs required to target deeply buried sites like Fordow, located under a mountain south of Tehran.
An Iranian official, quoted by the Tasnim news agency, confirmed that part of the Fordow site had been hit by “enemy airstrikes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for his “bold decision,” calling it a move that “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 fails as strikes escalate tensions
The US strikes came as Israel and Iran remained locked in over a week of aerial combat, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands injured in both countries.
Israel said it launched its attacks to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran, meanwhile, insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Western diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis have failed.
In recent days, both Democratic and some Republican lawmakers in Washington argued that Trump must seek authorisation from Congress before committing US forces to combat against Iran.
Republican Senator Roger Wicker, chair of the Armed Services Committee, supported the strikes but said the US now faced “very serious choices.”
Senator Jim Risch, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also a Republican, added: “This war is Israel’s war, not our war. There will not be American boots on the ground in Iran.”
Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky called the move “not constitutional.”
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine warned that the American public was “overwhelmingly opposed” to the US waging war on Iran and criticised Trump for showing “horrible judgement.”
Israel began its campaign on June 13, claiming Iran was close to acquiring nuclear weapons. Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it neither confirms nor denies it.
Iranian state media reported at least 430 people killed and 3,500 injured since the beginning of the Israeli strikes, citing health ministry sources.
In Israel, 24 civilians have died from Iranian missile attacks, and more than 450 missiles have been fired into the country, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
Israeli authorities report 1,272 people injured, with 14 in serious condition.
