Trump warns ‘bully' Iran to make peace quickly ‘or we'll be back' after US destroys hidden nuke base in huge blitz
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DONALD Trump warned 'Middle East bully' Iran to make peace quickly after the US yesterday smashed its most fortified nuclear facility to smithereens.
Trump boasted B-2 Spirit stealth bombers had 'completely and totally obliterated' the Islamist state's underground atomic plant at Fordow.
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US President Donald Trump warned Iran to make peace quickly after the US smashed its most fortified nuclear facility to smithereens
Credit: White House
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Six GBU-57 mega-bombs changed the landscape of the site where scientists were feared to be close to perfecting a nuclear weapon
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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 GBU-57 mega-bombs changed the landscape of the site where scientists were feared to be close to perfecting a nuclear weapon.
But last night the world held its breath as Trump warned even bigger attacks would be launched if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's rogue regime dared to retaliate.
World War Three fears escalated after the US joined ally Israel's ten-day war to smash Iran's nuclear threat once and for all.
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.
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 Trump — sporting a red Make America Great Again cap — said: 'Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.
'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.
'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.'
The mission was hailed as an 'incredible success' by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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.
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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 Khamenei showed no sign of backing down last night as his lieutenants vowed revenge.
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'.
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.'
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Airmen with one of the bombs in an earlier exercise
Credit: AP
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US Armed Forces head General Dan Caine
Credit: Getty
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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth hailed the US blitz as an 'incredible success'
Credit: Getty
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.'
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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.
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 Sir Keir for permission.
Russian and Iranian ally China called the US attack a 'serious violation of international law' yesterday as global battle lines were drawn.
Khamenei — believed to be hiding in a secret bunker with his family — had yet to break cover as Israel continued to pound sites across his nation yesterday.
Sources said the 86-year-old was in a reinforced bolthole in Tehran's Lavizan suburb.
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Trump vowed to continue military strikes unless Iran axes both its nuclear and ballistic missile building plans
Credit: The Mega Agency
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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.
'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.
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.
'We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilise the region.'
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The Independent
38 minutes ago
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
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an hour ago
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Iranian news agencies reported air defences were activated in central Tehran districts to counter "enemy targets", and that Israeli air strikes hit Parchin, the location of a military complex southeast of the capital. In a post to the Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump raised the idea of regime change in Iran. "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" he wrote. Trump's post came after officials in his administration, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stressed they were not working to overthrow Iran's government. Israeli officials, who began the hostilities with a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, have increasingly spoken of their ambition to topple the hardline Shi'ite Muslim clerical establishment. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. The Kremlin has a strategic partnership with Iran, but also close links with Israel. Speaking in Istanbul on Sunday, Araqchi said his country would consider all possible responses and there would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated. Russia's foreign ministry condemned the U.S. attacks which it said had undermined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. "The risk of the conflict spreading in the Middle East, which is already gripped by multiple crises, has increased significantly," it said. The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss the U.S. strikes as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council the U.S. bombings in Iran marked a perilous turn in the region and urged a return to negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.
