Inside Operation Midnight Hammer: How Trump carried out unprecedented Iran attack using decoys in 37-hour covert mission
AMERICA'S colossal bomb raid on Iran's key nuclear sites was a masterclass in military might and strategy "months in the making", officials said.
Covert tactics and the world's biggest conventional bombs came together in a "spectacular success", according to Trump, which caught the Iranians completely off-guard.
8
14 B-2 bombers were joined by more than 100 escort and support aircradr
Credit: Reuters
8
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation had been months in the planning
Credit: AP
8
Satellite pictures show Iran's Fordow nuclear facility after it was blitzed
Credit: AFP
8
Iran has sworn "
While the world now waits to see how Iran and its
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: 'This was a complex and high-risk mission carried out with exceptional skill and discipline by our Joint Force."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said: "Our B-2s went in and out and back without the world knowing at all."
read more on israel-iran
The mission was simple: to inflict serious damage on
Plans were worked for months, and the key groundwork was laid by Trump on Thursday when he announced a two-week delay to his decision about striking
Iran
.
It's now clear that was a ploy to lull the regime into a false sense of security.
The full mobilisation began on Friday night when a unit of B-2 bombers took off from the US at midnight.
Most read in The US Sun
Some of the planes flew west towards the Pacific, leading analysts to suggest they might be heading to the UK's Diego Garcia base - but that was a decoy.
Only "an extremely small number of planners and key leaders" knew the truth about the ruse, General Caine said.
Trump's shock Iran strikes take us to bring of global conflict and will strengthen Axis of Evil alliance, experts warn
The actual fleet comprised of seven B-2 spirit bombers, which quietly set off east over the Atlantic.
Each was manned by a crew of two, but the pilots were instructed to stick to minimal communication to avoid detection.
It was an 18-hour non-stop journey to reach the
target
area, so the bombers had to refuel multiple times in the air by linking up with escort and support aircraft.
Mid-air synchronisation is difficult enough, but crews had to maintain minimal comms whilst lining up.
At half past midnight Iranian time, a US submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles at the Isfahan nuclear site in east Iran.
This coincided with the bomber squad entering Iranian airspace - undetected.
8
Trump played a feint by suggesting he would mull the strikes for two weeks
Credit: Splash
8
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has refused to surrender and now says diplomacy is off the cards
Credit: AP
Decoy and scout planes swooped out ahead of the main unit to scan for and distract any awaiting Iranian defence jets - but there were none.
The protection group stood ready to launch preemptive fire on any surface-to-air threats, such as air defence systems, but not a single shot was fired at the operatives.
Go-time was 2:10am - the midst of the Iranian night.
Over a period of just 25 minutes, the bombers released their powerful payload.
Officials revealed that about 75 precision-guided weapons were unleashed in total.
Amongst these were 14 of the famed "bunker-buster" bombs dropped on the mountain-fortress Fordow plant.
Israel
had not even attempted to destroy this facility, buried beneath 300ft of rock and steel, because it knew only US's superbombs could do the job.
The B-2s were programmed to drop one bomb, followed by another shortly afterwards onto the exact same point of impact.
8
Residential buildings in Tel Avid were damaged by Iranian missiles the morning after the US strikes
Credit: Getty
8
A graphic displayed by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demonstrating the operation
Credit: Getty
It was the first time that the 30,000-pound GBU, 57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) had been deployed in a live combat situation.
Caine said: 'Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice.
'We will defend ourselves. The safety of our service members and civilians remains our highest priority.
'This mission demonstrates the unmatched reach, coordination and capability of the United States military.
'In just a matter of weeks, this went from strategic planning to global execution.
'This operation underscores the unmatched capabilities and global reach of the
United States
military."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
I visited Iran to see what it's REALLY like – I ended up in hiding in terror and fleeing for my life
EMERGING from a carpet shop in Iran's beautiful and ancient city of Esfahan, I was engulfed by a group of jostling young men. Like a desert mirage, as quickly as they had arrived they were gone. 8 Sun Man Oliver Harvey in Iran in 2012 by a poster of former Iran leader Ayatollah Khomeini Credit: Oliver Harvey 8 Tehran's skyline in the shadow of the Alborz mountain range Credit: Getty - Contributor 8 The Statue of Liberty as a skull painted on the wall of the former US embassy in Tehran Credit: AP:Associated Press Patting myself down, a zip on my trouser pocket was undone. My passport was gone. And this so-called Axis of Evil nation had no British Embassy to get a replacement. Hands trembling uncontrollably, my adrenalin-induced sweat of fear smelt like cat's urine. read more on iran There can be few more hazardous places on Earth for a journalist without papers — and an entry stamp — than the Islamic Republic of Iran. Years later Barry Rosen — a US embassy worker held hostage there in 1979 — told me how his interrogation played out. With a rifle pressed to his temple, Barry was told he had ten seconds to admit he was a spy. As the grim countdown began, the New Yorker wrestled with the dilemma of either being perceived as a traitor to his country or leaving his kids fatherless. Most read in The Sun 'On the count of five I relented,' Barry told me. 'I signed the false confession, distraught and completely ashamed.' Trump's shock Iran strikes take us to brink of global conflict and will strengthen Axis of Evil alliance, experts warn Barry would eventually return to his loved ones in the US after 444 days in captivity. Britons are high-value hostages for the regime. She was finally released when Britain paid a £400million outstanding debt to Iran. I would eventually get out — more on how later — after staying with an extraordinarily kind Iranian man who put me up in his apartment and tempered my nerves with some rocket-fuel home brew. Today — with Iran's tyrannical regime in Israeli and US crosshairs — I cast my mind back to the welcoming people I met while travelling this ancient land. These folk loathe rule by the hardline ayatollahs and long for a time less than 50 years ago when women wore miniskirts in capital Tehran, the hair bouncing on their shoulders. I had arrived in Iran — successor state of the Persian Empire — in 2012 with the idea of travelling from Tehran to Persepolis, a millennia-old desert ruin once the centrepiece of its civilisation. On the way I'd talk to ordinary people to try and understand what made this land tick. Did they really think Britain was the cursed Little Satan? 'GREAT SATAN' On landing in Tehran — a high-rise city of 9.8million shrouded by mountains — fleets of white taxis honked their way through the city's awful traffic. In the pollution-choked centre, I was struck by the number of women walking around with white plasters on their noses. Tehran has been called the nose job capital of the world. Women here also face a daily battle over what they can wear in public, with checks made by the dreaded Basij militia network. Yet many were wearing their head scarves pulled back to reveal dyed blonde hair, while their overcoats were colourful and figure-hugging. Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, when the Shah — or king — Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was toppled and replaced by hardline cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Islamic dress has been strictly enforced. Alcohol was banned, protests stifled and unmarried couples prevented from meeting in public. Today, the internet is censored and the regime attempts to scramble satellite TV signals. Near the Taleghani Metro station is the old American embassy — known here as 'the nest of spies' — its walls daubed with murals and slogans decrying the so-called Great Satan. Months after the revolution, students stormed the embassy compound and took 66 Americans hostage. 8 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in Iran for six years on trumped-up charges of plotting to topple the Iranian government Credit: AFP 8 US embassy worker Barry Rosen was held hostage for 444 days in 1979 Credit: AP:Associated Press A disastrous and aborted US rescue mission the following year — when eight servicemen were killed in a helicopter crash — badly damaged US president The lingering stigma of that failure was perhaps a factor in why Donald Trump took his time before deciding to unleash American firepower on Iran. In Palestine Square — in the heart of Tehran — beats a Doomsday Clock predicting Israel's end by the year 2040. The regime put it there in 2017. It helps explain why Israel launched a Nearby, I visited the British embassy compound, its gateway overlooked by lion and unicorn statues. Around six months before my visit, diplomats had fled as a frenzied mob of Iran- ian 'students' storm- ed the building and ransacked offices. It would remain shuttered for nearly four years. The rioters — who were chanting 'Death To England' — were in fact state-sponsored Basij thugs. It is the same sinister paramilitary force that is responsible for the policing of morals in this hardline Shi'ite Muslim state, including the wearing of the hijab or headscarf. Yet these repressive goons are far from representative of the beating heart of this oil-rich nation. 8 Oliver's 'Denmark' passport Credit: Supplied A short stroll away in the teeming Grand Bazaar, women shoppers, in the all- covering black cloak-like chador, were out looking for bargains. But surprisingly, Union Jack-patterned knickers and bra combos were on sale on at least three stalls. American stars and stripes underwear was also available in several shops. One black-clad shopper in her thirties told me: 'The underwear is very popular. 'We have nothing against your country.' The message that the lingerie worn under the chadors sent out was clear: Knickers to the hardliners. Indeed, as a metaphor for things being very different under the surface in Iran, it couldn't be bettered. Another stall sold 'We don't hate Britain,' a 26-year-old Red Devils-mad taxi driver told me. 'Far from it. 'We admire your freedom.' After a few days in Tehran I took a shared taxi on the five-hour, 280-mile journey to Iran's third largest city Esfahan. It's home to an exquisite square overlooked by the imposing aquamarine dome of Shah Mosque, regarded as one of the masterpieces of Persian architecture. The city's outskirts are also home to one of the largest uranium enrichment facilities in the country. 'EVERYBODY BREWS THEIR OWN NOW' Terrified that Iran was close to producing a nuclear weapon to make good on its doomsday prophecy, the site was pummeled by more than two dozen US Tomahawk cruise missiles on Sunday morning. I had checked into a largely empty hotel in the city centre which had no safe for valuables. That evening I went out shopping for a Persian rug. Warily passing some soldiers in the street, I was dismayed to see them beckon me over. Yet they simply wanted a selfie alongside a rare Western traveller. Emerging with my new carpet, I was heading for an electronics store bearing a fake Apple logo when I was surrounded by pickpockets. Now passportless, I was petrified about being stopped by police and asked to produce my documents. I then remembered meeting some Iranian migrants in Calais who had told me they used to work as smugglers, trekking over the mountains from Iran to Turkey with some contraband alcohol in backpacks. Finding an internet cafe to research the journey, a man started using the computer next to me to watch porn. The idea of attempting to walk alone over rugged mountains seemed more hazardous than another internet suggestion — go to another country's embassy and throw myself at their mercy. Travelling back to Tehran I attempted to check into a hotel but the receptionist insisted I needed to show my passport. When I explained my predicament, he told me: 'I'll phone the police and they'll sort this out.' 8 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, who was toppled in 1979 Credit: Getty I told him I needed to collect my luggage then scarpered. Knowing no one in the country, a contact then put me in touch with someone who could put me up. The grey-haired father lived alone in a ramshackle flat and said I was welcome to the sofa. 'I was jailed for protesting against the Shah when he ruled,' he told me. 'Now I wish I hadn't bothered. 'This regime is far worse. 'We have far less freedom now.' Deciding the Dutch would be most amenable to a stricken Brit, I tried their embassy but it was closed for holidays. So I went to the Danes instead. They took my details and I was told to return the following day. Presented with a paper Danish temporary passport 24 hours later, I profusely thanked the embassy staff for making me an honorary viking. Taking a cab to the airport, I checked my bag on the flight then queued up at immigration dreaming of a glass of red on the plane. A bearded border guard disdainfully looked at my Danish passport, sniffing as he tossed it away: 'No good, no ministry stamp.' It was back to my new friend's sofa to watch subtitled TV, including shows with Jamie Oliver and James May. The former prisoner — raising a glass of home-distilled spirits — revealed: 'Twice every year the police go upon the roof and smash up all our satellite dishes. 'But we simply go out and buy some more. 8 A chanting crowd during the Iranian revolution in 1979 Credit: Getty 'There's a saying here that the regime closed down thousands of brewers during the revolution but created a million more. 'Everybody brews their own now.' After two days queuing at the relevant Iranian ministry — and praying that they wouldn't google my identity — I finally got my stamp. My plane banked over the vast mausoleum built to house Khomeini's remains as it headed west. One after another, most of the women on the flight removed their head scarves, then their restrictive chadors. Settling with a glass of wine, I hoped one day to return to this fascinating land under better circumstances. Now, with the ayatollahs' regime perhaps at threat of being toppled, I may one day make it to Persepolis. Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Trump warns ‘bully' Iran to make peace quickly ‘or we'll be back' after US destroys hidden nuke base in huge blitz
DONALD Trump warned 'Middle East bully' Iran to make peace quickly after the US yesterday smashed its most fortified nuclear facility to smithereens. Advertisement 10 US President Donald Trump warned Iran to make peace quickly after the US smashed its most fortified nuclear facility to smithereens Credit: White House 10 Six GBU-57 mega-bombs changed the landscape of the site where scientists were feared to be close to perfecting a nuclear weapon 10 Trump warned of even bigger attacks to come if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's rogue regime dared to retaliate Credit: Getty Before and after pictures showed six But last night the world held its breath as There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Donald Trump In a surprise attack, it launched Operation Midnight Hammer, involving 125 US military aircraft including seven B-2s. Advertisement READ MORE ON IRAN CONFLICT Some headed into the Pacific as a decoy while the B-2s went directly to Iran, according to US air force chief General Dan Caine. Just before they entered Iranian airspace, more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from a US submarine at the Isfahan site. Other deception tactics were used before 14 bunker buster bombs were dropped on two target areas, with Fordow said to be wiped out. In a televised address, Mr Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Breaking 'If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. 'There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Trump's shock Iran strikes take us to bring of global conflict and will strengthen Axis of Evil alliance, experts warn 'Remember there are many targets left. 'Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. Advertisement 'But if peace does not come quickly we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. 'Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. 'There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight.' Advertisement No sign of backing down However, there were claims that Iran had evacuated its nuclear sites. Hassan Abedini, deputy political director of the state broadcaster, said Iran 'didn't suffer a major blow because the materials had already been taken out'. Britain was not involved in the strikes and not asked to help, but was informed ahead of time. 10 Advertisement Mr Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu have vowed to continue military strikes unless Iran axes both its nuclear and ballistic missile building plans. But And the spectre of global escalation loomed as Iranian officials warned they will be meeting Russian ally Vladimir Putin to plot a response. Russia 'strongly condemned' the US bombings, calling them 'irresponsible' and a 'gross violation of international law'. Advertisement Its Foreign Ministry added in a statement: 'It is already clear that a dangerous escalation has begun, fraught with further undermining of regional and global security.' 10 Airmen with one of the bombs in an earlier exercise Credit: AP 10 US Armed Forces head General Dan Caine Credit: Getty 10 US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth hailed the US blitz as an 'incredible success' Credit: Getty Advertisement Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi dubbed the strikes outrageous and warned they would have 'everlasting consequences'. He went on to boast of the 'strategic partnership' between Iran and Russia and announced he was flying to Moscow to see Putin today. Putin puppet and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev stoked tensions further by making a veiled threat to give Iran nukes. He said: 'A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their nuclear weapons.' Advertisement 10 Iran has supplied Moscow with thousands of military drones to strike US and Ukraine in return for help from Putin's atomic boffins. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer's Government continued to sit on the fence last night and repeated calls for both sides to de-escalate. Trump had an option to launch the historic B-2 mission from the joint US-UK base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean — 3,000 miles from Iran. Advertisement The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction. Security-General Antonio Guterres But they flew more than 6,000 miles direct from the US as the President would've been obliged to ask Russian and Iranian ally China called the US attack a 'serious violation of international law' yesterday as global battle lines were drawn. Sources said the 86-year-old was in a reinforced bolthole in Tehran's Lavizan suburb. Advertisement 10 Trump vowed to continue military strikes unless Iran axes both its nuclear and ballistic missile building plans Credit: The Mega Agency 10 B-2 stealth bomber arrives back at base in the United States Credit: AP The UN Security Council met yesterday — following a request by Iran — and said the US attack 'marks a perilous turn'. Security-General Antonio Guterres added: 'I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East. Advertisement 'The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction.' He added that 'diplomacy must prevail'. Yesterday morning, Iran launched waves of revenge hits on Israel. Explosions and damage was reported in northern and central Israel, including in Haifa, Ness Ziona, Rishon LeZion, with 86 people treated for injuries and trauma. Advertisement Israeli officials said 240 residential buildings were damaged and 9,000 citizens are homeless following Iranian attacks over the past ten days. Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a statement as Europe pleaded for peace last night. They said: 'We have consistently been clear Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security. "We call upon Iran to engage in negotiations. Advertisement 'We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilise the region.'
Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Anti-racism rally and anti-immigration demonstration held in Dublin
An anti-racism rally and an anti-immigration demonstration were held in Dublin city on Sunday. O'Connell Bridge was closed for a time on Sunday afternoon as the Gardai erected extensive barriers to separate the two crowds. The United Against Racism rally began at the Central Plaza on Dame Street, marching through the city to O'Connell Bridge at around 2pm. Several protesters carried signs saying: 'Blame the Government, not migrants'; and: 'Dublin stands against racism'. They also chanted: 'Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.' The anti-immigration protest marched down O'Connell Street and turned left at O'Connell bridge before continuing along the quays. Participants from both sides shouted and gestured towards each other from across the empty space between the barriers created by gardai. The anti-immigration group, which was the larger of the two, was thick with large tricolour flags. It chanted 'ole ole' and: 'Whose streets? Our streets'. Several people were seen wearing 'Make Ireland Great Again' green caps and holding US or 'Trump' flags, and some signs critical of RTE. At one point, the famous rebel song 'Oro 'Se do bheatha 'bhaile' was played by the anti-racism rally over a speaker, and prompted some participants in the anti-immigration group to sing along and applaud at the end. There was an extensive Garda presence at the location where the two protest groups were due to cross paths. The Garda Mounted Support Unit, the Public Order Unit, and Garda members from outside the Dublin Metropolitan Region were in attendance. One Garda member was heard telling a member of the public he could not give directions as he was brought in from a region outside Dublin to police the protest. One mother said she and her eight-year-old attended the anti-racism protest as there was an anti-immigration demonstration being held close to her daughter's school. She said the group are camped beside the primary school every day over a nearby International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre, which has been there since 2022. 'We want to just come down and show our support for all of the people who go to her school who are migrants, or who have migrant parents,' the woman said, who asked that she not be named. 'We want to pass the message over to the other side that this is unacceptable for Ireland today, especially for the youth to have to put up with this type of environment. It's been extremely upsetting for the children and the families.' Councillor Conor Reddy said that communities across Ireland had been divided over the last year and a half and what happened in Ballymena in recent weeks was 'only a few steps away' in Dublin. He said anti-immigration marches would 'further divide our city' and that it was 'about time we put it up to them'. 'We're here to say that we are stronger when we stand together, that hate divides us, hate plays into the hands of Government. We've seen how far hate can take us – when you look at what happened in Ballymena in the north last week, that's only a few steps away here I fear, especially in my community of Ballymun and Finglas where we have seen houses attacked and unfortunately burned before people have gone into them, so we have to draw a line in the sand.' He said the march was acknowledging that there are issues with housing and inequality, but shifting the blame to the Government rather than migrants. 'Migrants, asylum seekers people that own IPAS centres are also multi-property landlords, so the enemy is the same and it's about pointing that out.'
