The US bombs Iran and warns of more attacks "if peace does not come quickly."
Tehran confirms the attack on the three nuclear facilities, but claims the infrastructure had been evacuated.
WashingtonThe United States has attacked Iran. President Donald Trump announced this Saturday that US bombers have launched missiles at the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities. The president confirmed in an appearance from the White House that the three facilities were "completely obliterated." "Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capability and the end of the nuclear threat posed by the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," Trump said, flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. In a subsequent post on Truth Social, Trump warned Iran that any response "will be met with far greater force than we have seen tonight."
The Republican addressed the nation two hours after announcing the military operation in a post on Truth Social. In the brief speech, which lasted just over four minutes, Trump threatened Iran that it could still carry out more attacks on its facilities: "This cannot continue. There will be either peace, or a tragedy far greater than what we have already witnessed these past eight days. Remember, tonight we have many more to come." Trump opted for the path that all his predecessors had avoided with Iran: military action. Now, the United States' military involvement in the conflict between Tel Aviv and Tehran threatens to escalate the war beyond the region.
The president wants to turn the bombing on Fordow and the other two facilities in a show of force to get the Iranians to sit down and negotiate a new nuclear deal. Trump wants to send the ayatollahs the message that They must choose between the survival of the regime or the nuclear program. "If peace doesn't come soon, we will pursue the other objectives with precision, speed, and skill," the Republican insisted during the appearance, emphasizing: "There is no army in the world that could do what we did tonight." Despite the gravity of the moment, which could drag the United States into a new war in the Middle East, Trump has remained true to his style and has used the term "bully" to describe Iran: "The bully The Middle East needs to make peace now."
Before Trump spoke publicly, Iranian authorities had already confirmed the attack. Specifically, it was corroborated by the spokesman for the crisis management team in Qom province, Morteza Heydari, and the deputy governor of the Iranian state security, Hassan Abedini, who appeared live on state television early in the morning to clarify that the three nuclear facilities had been evacuated "some time ago." Meanwhile, Israel has reported that there had been "full coordination" between Washington and Tel Aviv to carry out the attack on the nuclear infrastructure, a senior official told Israeli public broadcaster Kan. meeting or go to work, except for essential sectors. This shows that Israel fears possible retaliation from Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the action. "President Trump, thank you, the people of Israel thank you," he said a few hours later in a video posted on social media. "First comes strength, then comes peace. And tonight, Trump and the United States acted with great strength." Netanyahu asserted that "history will remember that Trump acted to prevent the most dangerous regime in the world from having the most dangerous weapons in the world." During his speech, the American also congratulated his Israeli counterpart: "I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We have worked as a team that probably no other team has, and we have come a long way to eradicate this horrific threat to Israel."
Although Iran's capacity to respond is asymmetrical, one option beyond continuing the bombing of Israel would be to choke off the Strait of Hormuz. "They won't close the Strait, because closing it is an act of war, and then the US will bomb. But it could complicate trade and raise the price of oil," former Department of Defense advisor Ilan Berman explained to ARA on Friday.
The bombing comes amid escalating tensions in the region, after Israel launched an attack on the ayatollahs' regime on June 13 with the aim of ending its nuclear program. Since then, the exchange of bombings between Tel Aviv and Tehran has been a constant, while Washington weighed whether or not to end up getting involved in the conflict. Since Monday, Trump has been playing a war of nerves with the Islamic Republic, leaving all options on the table.
On Wednesday, White House sources confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the attack on Iran had been approved internally and only the final order was missing. And this Thursday the American president said that he would decide in "in the coming weeks" if it attacked the Islamist regime. Barely two days had passed when it announced that the operation against the Iranian nuclear facilities had been successful.
In the midst of the war of nerves, the Fordow uranium enrichment facility, one of the targets of Saturday's attack. Tel Aviv had been pressuring Washington to get involved in the conflict, since destroying the Fordow facility - which is located 80 meters underground - required bunker-busting missiles that can only be transported by B-2 aircraft, a type of fighter that only the Americans have. By midday on Saturday, it had already been reported that American fighter-bombers had crossed the Pacific heading west. Hours later, White House sources confirmed to CNN that six B-2s were used in the operation to drop 12 "bunker-busting" bombs.
Five months after arriving at the White House, Trump has broken one of his great promises campaign, involving the country in a new international conflict. Influential voices from the old MAGA guard, such as his former advisor Steve Bannon, commentator Tucker Carlson, and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, openly spoke out against a possible attack on Iran. "Anyone who slobbers for the United States to become fully involved in the war between Israel and Iran is not America First/MAGA," it read. Early this morning, the hardline Trumpist Republican's reaction was the following post: "Let us unite and pray for the safety of our American troops and Americans in the Middle East."
