US Says Strikes 'Devastated' Iran's Nuclear Program
Unprecedented US strikes have wrecked Iran's nuclear program, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday as Washington sought to assess what remained of the three targeted sites.
The surprise strikes threaten to deepen conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, with Tehran vowing to retaliate against US involvement.
But the United States said President Donald Trump wanted peace and urged Iran to end the conflict after strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
"We devastated the Iranian nuclear program," Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing, adding that the operation "did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people."
Trump "seeks peace, and Iran should take that path", Hegseth said. "This mission was not, and has not been, about regime change."
Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that "it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there."
"Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction," he told reporters.
People gathered in the center of Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans, state TV showed.
Trump claimed total success for the operation in an address to the nation hours after the attack, and Vice President JD Vance followed up on Sunday morning.
"We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night, whether it's years or beyond," he told ABC.
"We're not at war with Iran -- we're at war with Iran's nuclear program," he added. "The president took decisive action to destroy that program last night."
In Tehran, AFP journalists said the roar of aircraft flying over the city was heard repeatedly for the first time since Israel's initial attacks.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at the nuclear sites and Tehran said Sunday there were no signs of contamination.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul the United States and Israel had "crossed a very big red line," asserting Iran would continue to defend itself "by all means necessary."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US strikes, saying Trump's decision to "target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history."
The Israeli military was also checking the results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was "too soon" to know if Iran had removed enriched uranium from the site.
The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings, Caine said.
In response to the US attack, Iran's armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, the country's main international gateway near Tel Aviv.
Israeli rescuers said at least 23 people were wounded.
In Jerusalem, Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, said he hoped the US intervention would hasten an end to the Iran-Israel war.
"Israel by itself would not stop... and it would take longer," he said.
Israel said it had launched fresh strikes on western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran. Iran's official IRNA news agency reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the city's north.
The Israeli military said it had "struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralized the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory."
Iran's Shargh newspaper reported that a "massive explosion was heard" Sunday in Bushehr province, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant.
Iranian news agencies also reported strikes in Yazd province.
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US move and urged de-escalation.
The European Union called on all sides "to step back," while stressing Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
The Iranian foreign minister said he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Following his address, Trump warned Iran against retaliation. Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
Iran's Huthi allies in Yemen on Sunday repeated their threat to resume attacks in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, saying they were ready to target US ships and warships.
The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck the country on June 13, repeating his insistence it could never have nuclear weapons.
Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb. On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran's right to pursue a civilian nuclear program "cannot be taken away... by threats or war." Israeli security forces and media gather at the site of an Iranian strike that hit a residential neighbourhood in the Ramat Aviv area in Tel Aviv on June 22, 2025 AFP US President Donald Trump addresses the nation after Iran strikes AFP
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He said US troops in the region were given no advanced warning and remain on high alert. The general said initial assessments indicated "extreme damage and destruction" at three Iranian nuclear sites. Caine said the US troops had used deceptive tactics and completed their mission of delivering some 75 precision-guided weapons to targets inside Iran undetected — maintaining the element of surprise throughout. Adding that "no other military in the world could have done this," Caine advised Iran to refrain from striking back against the US, saying that to do so would be "a poor choice." Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) issued a warning to US military bases in the Middle East after overnight US airstrikes on the country's nuclear sites. "By attacking the peaceful nuclear facilities, [US forces] have de facto put themselves in direct danger," the IRGC said, according to the Fars news agency. Iran, it said, would "use options beyond the understanding... of the agressor front, and the aggressors of this land must expect regrettable responses." The overnight US airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump targeted nuclear facilities in three locations in Iran, including the well-fortified uranium enrichment plant at Fordo. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The IRGC also said it would continue to target Israel, which has been hit by multiple waves of missile and drone attacks since Israel struck Iran on June 13. The United States has many bases around the Persian Gulf, including in Bahrain and Qatar. Some are located relatively close to Iran, which could make them targets of retaliation. Around 40,000 members of the US military are currently stationed in the region. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday called military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities "an incredible and overwhelming success" that had "obliterated Iran's nuclear ambitions." Hegseth said neither Iranian troops nor civilians had been targeted in the US operation. Just hours after the airstrikes on Iran, Hegseth echoed President Trump, claiming the US "seeks peace." He went on to say, "We will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened." Hegseth praised Trump for the operation, which he said had been months in the making: "The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back. When this president speaks, the world should listen." Iranian media have reported "massive" blasts in the southern city of Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear reactor. Iranian authorities have not yet reported any problem at the plant, which is operated with Russian assistance. The cause of the blasts was not immediately clear. China's Foreign Ministry has criticized the US attacks on Iran, saying they "escalate tensions in the Middle East" and go against the UN Charter. Among other things, it said it condemned the targeting of nuclear facilities supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency. "China calls on all parties to the conflict, especially Israel, to cease fire as soon as possible," the ministry said in a statement. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
