Trump calls US attacks on Iran 'a spectacular military success'
President Donald Trump on Saturday said the US military had bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, "completely and totally obliterating" Tehran's enrichment capacity.
The development ended days of speculation about whether America would become directly involved in Israel's war against Tehran. Mr Trump said that any retaliation by Iran against the US would be met with overwhelming force.
"Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," Mr Trump said in a three-minute address to the nation from the White House, flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."
Iranian state media, however, said that all three sites had been evacuated and their contents moved before the bombings.
Morteza Heydari, spokesman for the Qom Provincial crisis management department, told the Tasnim news agency that 'complete peace prevails in the holy city of Qom and the province".
Earlier, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian had said that his country's "response to the continued aggression of the Zionist regime will be more devastating" during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Israel had repeatedly called on its ally America to join its war and Mr Trump has said he would not tolerate Iran developing a nuclear weapons programme.
On Saturday, he said he had worked with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to co-ordinate the strikes.
"We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel," he said, adding that the action was "the most difficult" and the "most lethal".
Calling Iran "the bully of the Middle East," he said that if peace is not achieved soon, the US would go after other targets.
Earlier on Saturday in a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites had been targeted.
'All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.'
He also posted a screenshot of a social media account that said: "Fordow is gone."
The US has bunker-busting bombs designed to destroy hardened facilities buried deep underground, including Fordow, which is in a mountain.
Mr Trump went on to call for peace and praise the "great American warriors".
The strikes came after the US President had voiced deepening frustration with Tehran over its failure to come to a deal on putting limits on its nuclear programme.
"This is an historic moment for the United States of America, Israel, and the world. Iran must now agree to end this war," he said in a different post.
B-2 Spirit bombers were reportedly used in the strikes. The stealth jets can carry the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator. It weighs 13,600kg and can purportedly go through up to 100 metres of reinforced concrete. Its conventional explosive power is close to that of an atom bomb.
The US has previously lent support to Israel's defence in the conflict, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanking Mr Trump for "support in defending Israel's skies".
Mr Trump spoke to Mr Netanyahu after the strikes, AFP reported, citing a senior White House official.
The US also "gave Israel a heads-up before the strikes," the official said.
America's attack on Iran comes despite deep divisions among Mr Trump's Republicans over whether the US should become involved in another Middle East conflict.
The President campaigned on ending costly foreign wars and vowed to bring the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars, which preceded his term, to a swift end.
"There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first," Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading Make America Great Again Republican isolationist congresswoman, wrote in a post on X.
"Israel is a nuclear armed nation. This is not our fight. Peace is the answer."
Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries criticised the strike.
'President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorisation for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East," Mr Jeffries said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was gravely alarmed by the US strikes.
"This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security," he said in a statement.
"There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world."
Some Republican leaders, however came out strongly in support of Mr Trump's decision, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying that the President "gave Iran's leader every opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement".
And the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Roger Wicks, said "our commander-in-chief has made a deliberate - and correct - decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime".
Senator Tom Cotton said Mr Trump "made the right call and the ayatollahs should recall his warning not to target Americans".
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Al Etihad
UN Security Council meets on Iran
23 June 2025 00:05 UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) The UN Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, and to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass."The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. "We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.""We must act - immediately and decisively - to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear programme," Guterres world awaited Iran's response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had "obliterated" Tehran's key nuclear nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran's enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, "no one - including the IAEA - is in a position to assess the underground damage."Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran's sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again. "Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites," said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency. Israel-Iran Conflict Continue full coverage
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Polling on Iran attack shows Donald Trump faces uphill battle to win public support
Polling conducted before the US attack on Iranian nuclear sites suggests US President Donald Trump could face an uphill battle to convince a majority of Americans to support the military strikes. A survey from The Washington Post before Saturday's attack found 45 per cent of respondents opposed the idea of US air strikes against Iran, 25 per cent supported strikes, while 30 per cent were unsure. 'We are deeply distracted by our own issues here at home,' said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, pointing to economic and cultural issues preoccupying many Americans. Recent ' No Kings ' protests against Mr Trump's sweeping use of his executive authorities has also helped consolidate opposition to his Iran plans. 'These were protests that had deep concerns about President Trump overreaching on executive authority, and this action last night will continue those debates on that,' Mr Katulis said. He added that the crucial thing for Mr Trump, based on the Post 's polling, would be to convince the 30 per cent who were unsure about the idea of US strikes on Iran. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie has described Mr Trump's military action on Iran as 'not constitutional'. But Republicans sharing that view were almost non-existent on Sunday, with most supporting Mr Trump's actions. The White House said the strikes did not attack Iranian troops or civilians. During an appearance on NBC on Sunday, Vice President JD Vance echoed that message. 'We're not at war with Iran, we're at war with Iran's nuclear programme,' he said. 'We actually want peace, but we want peace in the context of them not having a nuclear weapons programme.' Despite Mr Trump initially claiming 'spectacular' success, Pentagon officials cautioned that an in-depth assessment of Saturday's strikes on Iran would take some time. If it becomes apparent that the strikes were not as effective as initially advertised, support for Mr Trump's decision to attack Iran could falter, Mr Katulis said. 'At the [Pentagon] news conference, they hedged a bit more,' Mr Katulis said, referring to Gen Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who urged patience while the US studies long-term battle damage assessments of the attacks.
Al Etihad
2 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Arab leaders warn of 'catastrophic consequences' following US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities
22 June 2025 22:24 ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)The Arab world voiced concern on Sunday following a series of US airstrikes that targeted key nuclear facilities in Iran. The rare direct attack by Washington prompted region-wide condemnation, with Gulf and Arab capitals warning that the escalation risks plunging the region into deeper instability and calling for a return to Arabia described the targeting of nuclear sites as a grave provocation. In a post on X, the Saudi Foreign Ministry reiterated its condemnation of "the violation of the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and called on the international community to intensify efforts towards finding a political solution to the said it "regrets the deterioration of the situation" and reaffirmed its support for peaceful solutions through regional and international cooperation. The Qatari Foreign Ministry cautioned that the escalation could lead to catastrophic consequences, stressing that the people of the region "cannot endure" the humanitarian cost of more called for a swift resumption of US-Iran negotiations, stressing that diplomacy must prevail to "spare [the region's] people the horrors and dangers of war". The Interior Ministry instructed 70% of government workers to work from home and urged citizens to avoid unnecessary use of roads to keep them clear for emergency also condemned the strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, warning that the move threatens global security. Its Foreign Ministry denounced the violation of Iran's sovereignty, urged an immediate and complete end to military operations and called on the UN Security Council to take responsibility in de-escalating the described the US strikes as an "unlawful act of aggression" and a breach of international law. A spokesperson for Oman's Foreign Ministry warned the strike risks "widening the conflict" and denounced the targeting of nuclear facilities, which it said are protected under the Geneva Conventions due to the risks of radioactive warned of the "disastrous repercussions" of continued escalation, calling for urgent efforts to protect regional and global peace. The Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks and called for a political solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear said the crisis was reaching a dangerous tipping point and could jeopardise the entire region's security. Cairo reaffirmed its position on respecting state sovereignty and urged all parties to avoid military confrontation. It also stressed that peaceful dialogue remained the only viable path Arab Parliament also condemned the strikes, saying they threaten to inflame conflicts across the Middle East. In a statement, it said the region was already suffering from rising tensions and could not bear further escalation. The body rejected the use of military force and urged powerful nations to lead efforts that advocate for diplomatic solutions to existing reactions came hours after US President Donald Trump announced that American forces had carried out strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Speaking on Fox News, Trump said six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, and 30 Tomahawk missiles were used to strike other sites. He said Iran must now choose "peace or tragedy".US military officials said on Sunday that the operation, named 'Midnight Hammer', involved 125 aircraft and used 75 precision-guided weapons. B-2 bombers flew 18 hours from the United States and conducted the largest such operation in their history. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Washington of violating the UN Charter and international law and said Tehran "reserves all options" in response. The Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation said the strikes caused extensive damage but vowed the move "will not allow the path of development of this national industry to be stopped". Israel-Iran Conflict Continue full coverage
