Here's How US Strikes On Iran Unfolded
The U.S. strike on three Iranian nuclear facilities overnight on June 21–22 followed a highly intricate plan that entailed more than 125 U.S. aircraft and warships and layers of deception, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Pentagon news briefing.
Hegseth said preparation for the mission—dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer—took place over the course of weeks and months, 'so that we could be ready when the president of the United States called.'
The U.S. strikes were made a week after Israel launched a series of surprise airstrikes across Iran, aimed at degrading the country's nuclear programs and military capabilities.
Joining the conflict that Israel initiated, U.S. military planners set Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment facility as their primary target. With the Fordow facility situated hundreds of feet underground in a mountainous region of Iran, U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers carrying 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs, called GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators, offered one of the best options to destroy the facility.
Illustration by The Epoch Times
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the operation was the longest B-2 bomber mission since 2001, the second longest B-2 mission ever flown, and the first operational use of the GBU-57 bombs.
At the June 22 news briefing, Pentagon personnel presented a timeline for Operation Midnight Hammer. The operation began just after midnight Eastern time on June 21, as seven B-2 bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, heading east on their way to Iran.
The B-2 bombers received refueling support from dozens of aerial refueling aircraft along their journey across the Atlantic Ocean and over the Mediterranean Sea.
The seven U.S. bombers reached the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility at about 5 p.m. Eastern time on June 22. Just before these bombers entered the Central Command area, U.S. submarines began launching Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets in Iran.
U.S. fighter jets flew ahead of the bombers, and the airstrike package entered Iranian airspace at approximately 6 p.m. Eastern time.
(Left) A satellite image shows vehicles at the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility in Iran on June 20, 2025. (Right) A satellite image shows the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, where multiple buildings were destroyed during recent Israeli airstrikes, in Iran on June 14, 2025. Maxar Technologies via AP As they flew ahead, U.S. fighter jets began preemptively suppressing Iranian air defense systems around the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities, clearing the way for the bomber crews.
At approximately 6:40 p.m. Eastern time, the lead bomber crews reached the Fordow nuclear facility and dropped two GBU-57 bombs. Over the next 20 minutes, the rest of the bomber crews dropped their payloads over Fordow and Natanz.
The sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles reached the third and final target, Iran's Isfahan nuclear facility, and concluded the strike operation at approximately 7:05 p.m. Eastern time.
The B-2 bomber crews exited the Iranian airspace at approximately 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
As he delivered remarks on the strikes on the morning of June 22, Hegseth said U.S. air crews were still returning to the United States.
After the lead bomber dropped its two GBU-57 bombs, the remaining six B-2 bombers each released two of their own heavy bunker busters over the Fordow and Natanz facilities.
In total, these bomber crews dropped 14 bunker buster bombs.
Airmen look at a GBU-57, or the massive ordnance penetrator bomb, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri on May 2, 2023. Seven B-2 bombers on June 21, 2025, departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities. U.S. Air Force via AP, File
Detailing the operation, Caine said the U.S. submarines involved in the strikes began firing 'more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Isfahan.'
The air and sea components of the U.S. strike package were carefully sequenced so that the Tomahawk missile impacts could coincide with the narrow time frame of the rest of the strike package.
The U.S. strike operation entailed several elements of deception in order to misdirect Iran's defenses.
While the bomber crews responsible for conducting the strikes flew east from Whiteman Air Force Base, Caine announced that some bombers were headed west over the Pacific Ocean.
An operational timeline of a strike on Iran is displayed following a news conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on June 22, 2025. Caine also announced that some bombers headed west over the Pacific Ocean as decoys.Caine said it was 'a deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.'
The top U.S. general said U.S. forces employed other deception tactics in the course of the mission, but did not specify what those tactics were.
More than 125 military aircraft participated in Operation Midnight Hammer, according to Caine.
He said this included the B-2 stealth bombers, 'multiple flights of fourth and fifth generation fighters,' and 'dozens and dozens of air refueling tankers.'
A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber performs a flyover of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, on May 8, 2020. Jeff Roberson, File/AP
Emphasizing the surprise nature of the operation, Caine said the U.S. military is unaware of any Iranian forces firing on the U.S. warplanes during the mission.
'Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission,' Caine added. 'We retained the element of surprise in total.'
Hegseth also said the capabilities and coordination demonstrated by the U.S. forces during the operation will be a key factor dissuading Iran from retaliating.
'We believe that'll have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future, and we certainly hope they take the path of negotiated peace,' Hegseth said. 'But I could not be more proud of how this building operated, of the precision, the sensitivity, and the professionalism of the troops involved in this effort.'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L), accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, takes a question from a reporter during a news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on June 22, 2025. President Donald Trump gave an address to the nation on June 21 after three Iranian nuclear facilities were struck by the U.S. military.Hegseth said Operation Midnight Hammer was launched in order to destroy or 'severely degrade Iran's nuclear program.'
The full extent of the damage inflicted on Iran's three nuclear facilities cannot be independently confirmed at this time. Still, Caine provided an optimistic early outlook.
'I know that battle damage is of great interest,' Caine said. 'Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.'
In a statement shared by Iran's state-run PressTV shortly after the U.S. strikes, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran vowed it would continue its work. The Iranian nuclear agency also urged the international community to condemn the attack.
Vice President JD Vance said that he believes the U.S. airstrikes on three of Iran's nuclear sites have set back the regime's nuclear program.
'I feel very confident that we have substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon, and that was the goal of this attack. That's why it was a success,' Vance said on June 22 on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
'I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time. I think that it's going to be many, many years before the Iranians are able to develop a nuclear weapon.'
Prior to the strikes, Israel said that Iran could be just weeks away from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while President Donald Trump had said Iran was weeks to months away from a nuclear bomb.
Also read: Trump Has Already Pivoted To Mulling Regime Change In Iran With Latest Post
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'Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission,' Caine added. 'We retained the element of surprise in total.' Hegseth also said the capabilities and coordination demonstrated by the U.S. forces during the operation will be a key factor dissuading Iran from retaliating. 'We believe that'll have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future, and we certainly hope they take the path of negotiated peace,' Hegseth said. 'But I could not be more proud of how this building operated, of the precision, the sensitivity, and the professionalism of the troops involved in this effort.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L), accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, takes a question from a reporter during a news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on June 22, 2025. President Donald Trump gave an address to the nation on June 21 after three Iranian nuclear facilities were struck by the U.S. said Operation Midnight Hammer was launched in order to destroy or 'severely degrade Iran's nuclear program.' The full extent of the damage inflicted on Iran's three nuclear facilities cannot be independently confirmed at this time. Still, Caine provided an optimistic early outlook. 'I know that battle damage is of great interest,' Caine said. 'Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.' In a statement shared by Iran's state-run PressTV shortly after the U.S. strikes, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran vowed it would continue its work. The Iranian nuclear agency also urged the international community to condemn the attack. 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They just take advantage of Americans only… — Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) June 22, 2025 Following President Trump's new foreign entanglement – bombing Iranian nuclear facilities (which may or may not have taken them out while causing a deep divide amongst MAGA), Vice President JD Vance says he believes their nuclear program has been set back 'many years,' and that he feels 'very confident that we've substantially delayed [Iran's] development of a nuclear weapon,' adding that it was US intelligence, not Israeli intelligence assessments, that led to Trump's decision. When asked if the United States is at war with Iran, he claimed 'No, Kristen, we're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program,' and called on Iranians to 'give peace a chance. 'They can go down the path of peace, or they can go down the path of this ridiculous brinksmanship of funding terrorism, of trying to build a nuclear weapon – and that's just not something the United States can accept.' "We didn't blow up the diplomacy. The diplomacy never was given a real chance by the Iranians," says @VP."The Iranians are clearly not very good at war. Perhaps they should follow President Trump's lead and give peace a chance." — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 22, 2025 When asked if the US would support an Israeli assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Vance said that it would be 'up to the Israelis,' and that the US position is 'we don't want a regime change.' VP Vance: 'No Regime Change' in Iran — U.S. Focused on Nuclear Threat, Not Government Overthrow– In interviews (e.g. NBC's Meet the Press), Vice President J.D. Vance emphasized the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites aims solely to dismantle Iran's nuclear program—not to… — GlobalWire (@global_wire_) June 22, 2025 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile insisted to Fox News that 'This is not a war against Iran,' adding 'Not a shot was fired against us. They didn't even know what had happened. By the time we left, the planes were out of their airspace before they finally started realizing they'd been hit. So it would be a terrible mistake if Iran retaliates. So but that's not our goal.' Secretary Rubio clears the air on whether America is "at war" with Iran."This is not a war against Iran.""Not a shot was fired against us. They didn't even know what had happened. By the time we left, the planes were out of their airspace before they finally started realizing… — Media Lies (@MediasLies) June 22, 2025 He also warned against Iranian retaliation, saying: 'If Iran retaliates, it will be the WORST mistake they've ever made.' RUBIO: It would be a terrible mistake if Iran retaliated. But that's not our goal. We are not declaring war on Iran. We're not looking for war on Iran. But if they attack us, then I think we have capabilities they haven't even seen yet. It would be a terrible mistake on their… — Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) June 22, 2025 Rubio then warned Iran not to close the strait of Hormuz after Iran's parliament backed its closure, saying 'If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, it will be another terrible mistake. It's economic suicide for them if they do it and we retain options to deal with that.' Rubio:'If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, it will be another terrible mistake. It's economic suicide for them if they do it and we retain options to deal with that' — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 22, 2025 Everyone got the script? Iran, meanwhile in a statement through spox Esmail Baghaei, accused the Trump administration of sabotaging diplomatic efforts – saying 'They cannot talk about diplomacy, they betrayed diplomacy,' adding that 'diplomacy never ends.' Setting up for another forever war…where end-goals are undefinable? LOL, Vance says Iran still controls enriched Uranium stockpile, which could be enough to produce 10 nuclear warheads — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) June 22, 2025 Regarding the escalating conflict, Baghaei warned 'No one knows what will happen next, but what is sure is that the responsibility of the consequences of this war must be borne by the United States and Israel.' The Iranian foreign ministry declined to elaborate on Tehran's likely response to the attacks, or to detail the extent of the damage – only saying in a statement to CNN that Iran 'is entitled … to exercise its right of self-defense,' adding 'And we will do that for sure.' In a Sunday morning press briefing, Trump's Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declared that 'Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated' – but also asserted that the attack did not target the Iranian people or civilians. He hailed the 'incredible and overwhelming success' – following President Trump last night saying the same thing. 'It's worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.' Hegseth said this is part of the commitment of this administration's vision of 'peace through strength'. He continued, 'Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran's nuclear program, and none could, until President Trump.' For the 'bold and brilliant' operation, there was weeks of preparation and precision logistics and 'misdirection' at the highest level, involving B-2 bombers going to hit, Hegseth described. 'No other country on planet earth' could have conducted this operation. He also underscored that the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) was used for the first time in US combat history – also that it was the longest bomber mission of its kind since 2001. 'Just like [IRGC Quds Force General Qasem] Solemani found out in the first term, Iran found out when POTUS says '60 days' – that when he seeks peace and negotiation – he means 60 days of peace and negotiation, otherwise that nuclear program will not exist. He meant it.' Hegseth then read aloud Trump's post to Truth Social last night, soon after the three nuclear sites were struck: 'Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.' That's when the US Defense Secretary then warned, 'Iran would be smart to heed those words. He said it before and he means it.' He tried to stress the 'limited' scope of the attack and urged the Iranians to come back to the negotiating table: There are both public and private messages being delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the negotiation table, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says at a Pentagon press briefing. Scope of operation on Iran was 'intentionally limited' Hegseth says he believes the US attack will have a clear psychological impact on how Iran views the future US strikes against Iran's nuclear enrichment site at Fordow are believed to have destroyed capabilities there… To review the details of what happened last night, the US deployed six B-2 bombers to drop 12 GBU-57 'bunker-buster' bombs on Iran's heavily fortified Fordow nuclear site, marking the first time these massive 30,000-pound bombs were used in combat. The enrichment sites at Natanz and Isfahan were also attacked. The mission lasted about 37 hours with multiple refueling missions. While the White House is now claiming Iran's nuclear facilities were 'completely and totally obliterated,' officials say it's too early to confirm the full extent of the damage. America dropped six GBU-57 bunker buster bombs on the Fordow nuclear site — Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) June 22, 2025 Iran, along with international nuclear agencies, reported no radiation leaks, prompting skepticism about the strike's effectiveness—particularly at Fordow, which is buried deep underground. Iranian officials said damage was minimal and mostly above ground. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization vowed to continue its nuclear program, referring to assassinated nuclear scientists as 'martyrs.' Some degree of political backlash has quickly emerged over the lack of Congressional approval for the strikes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, despite previously mocking Trump's diplomatic efforts with Iran, called for a War Powers vote, criticizing the president's unilateral military action without a clear strategy. Also read: Alarming Fox Report Says Tactical Nukes 'Not Off The Table' For Trump's Iran Response
