The US strikes three Iranian nuclear sites
The US strikes three Iranian nuclear sites
Published 22 June 2025, 7:07 am
The United States has joined Israel in its military campaign against Iran, representing a significant escalation in an already volatile conflict. The US says it has conducted massive strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities including Natanz, Isfahan and what's considered Iran's most critical nuclear site, Fordow. Iran's foreign minister responded by saying "the US has itself launched a dangerous war against Iran." SBS Chief International Correspondent Ben Lewis covers the story from Tel Aviv.
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News.com.au
30 minutes ago
- News.com.au
US strikes on Iran: what we know
The United States has carried out strikes that caused "extremely severe damage" to three of Iran's nuclear facilities, the top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said on Sunday. President Donald Trump had spent weeks pursuing a diplomatic path to replace the nuclear deal with Tehran that he tore up during his first term in 2018. But he ultimately decided to take military action against Iran's nuclear program, which had already been bombarded in a more than week-long Israeli campaign that has also targeted Tehran's top military brass. Below, AFP examines what we know about the US strikes on Iran -- an operation dubbed "Midnight Hammer." - Major operation - Caine told journalists the strikes involved more than 125 US aircraft including B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, fighters, aerial refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. "This mission demonstrates the unmatched reach, coordination and capability of the United States military," the general said. "No other military in the world could have done this." Caine said it was "too early" to comment on what remains of Iran's nuclear program, but that "initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction." - B-2 bombers - The US employed seven B-2s in the strikes -- aircraft that can fly 6,000 nautical miles (9,600 kilometers) without refueling and which are designed to "penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended, targets," according to the US military. "This was the largest B-2 operational strike in US history and the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown," according to Caine. Several B-2s proceeded west over the Pacific as a decoy while the bombers that would take part in the strikes headed east -- a "deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders," the general said. "Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us. Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise," Caine said. The United States used the B-2 in operations against Serbian forces in the 1990s, flying non-stop from Missouri to Kosovo and back, and the bombers were subsequently employed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the 2000s. - Massive Ordnance Penetrator - Caine said the B-2s dropped 14 bombs known as the GBU-57 or Massive Ordnance Penetrator -- a powerful 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) bunker-busting weapon that made its combat debut in the Iran operation. The bombs -- which are designed to penetrate up to 200 feet (60 meters) underground before exploding -- were needed to hit deeply buried Iranian nuclear facilities. Testing of the weapons began in 2004 and Boeing was in 2009 awarded a contract to complete the integration of GBU-57 with aircraft. - Tomahawk cruise missiles - In addition to the bombers, a US guided missile submarine in the Middle East launched more than two dozen missiles at unspecified "surface infrastructure targets" at Isfahan, one of three nuclear sites struck in the operation, Caine said. The missiles are "designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds, and are piloted over an evasive route by several mission tailored guidance systems" and were first used in 1991 against Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm, according to the US military. - Aim of the strikes - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told journalists the strikes were launched to "neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self-defense of our troops and our allies." "This mission was not, has not been, about regime change," Hegseth told journalists. A number of key figures in Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement have vocally opposed US strikes on Iran, and his promise to extract the United States from its "forever wars" in the Middle East played a role in his 2016 and 2024 election wins. - What comes next? - Trump has called on Iran to "agree to end this war," saying that "now is the time for peace." But it remains to be seen whether the strikes will push Tehran to deescalate the conflict, or to widen it further. If Iran chooses the latter option, it could do so by targeting American military personnel who are stationed around the Middle East, or seek to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which carries one-fifth of global oil output.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
How the US struck Iran's nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer
When America's B-2 bombers took off from a military base in Missouri and some of them made their way towards the Pacific, flight tracking enthusiasts had noted that was unusual and it would turn out to be intentionally so. The United States had launched a B-2 bomber "strike package" but to maintain tactical surprise, some of the aircraft very visibly proceeded West and into the Pacific "as a decoy". "The main strike package, comprised of seven B-2 spirit bombers, each with two crew members, proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications throughout the 18-hour flight into the target area," General Dan Caine said at a Pentagon briefing on Sunday morning, local time. Any movement of those B-2 aircraft would have been closely watched because these are the war machines capable of delivering the so-called "bunker busting bombs" that Israel has been wanting deployed in its war against Iran. Each bomber can carry two "massive ordinance penetrators" bombs in its weapons bay and as the group of B-2s broke east towards Iran they were fully loaded. After taking off at midnight on Saturday, local time, the B-2s were joined by an escort "support package" 17 hours later, and from there it was just less than two hours until they would be over their targets. "The aircraft completed multiple in-flight refuelling. Once overland, the B-2 linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex tightly timed manoeuvrer requiring exact synchronisation ... in a narrow piece of airspace, all done with minimal communications," General Caine said. At the same time, a US submarine in the region "launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets", he said. "As the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace, the US employed several deception tactics, including decoys, as the [escort] aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface to air missile threats." By early Saturday evening Washington time, the B-2s and their escorts crossed into Iranian airspace. We now know the specific targets for this mission were the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites. The decoys were set, the three components of American military had come together and were now making their way to their targets to drop the massive payload on the facilities the US and Israel believe are critical to Iran's nuclear potential. At approximately 6:40pm, Washington time, the lead B-2 dropped two massive ordnance penetrator (MOPs) weapons on the first target, which was the Fordow nuclear facility. "The remaining bombers then hit their targets as well, with a total of 14 MOPs dropped against two nuclear target areas. All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck between 6:40pm and 7:05pm Eastern Time," General Caine said. "The Tomahawk missiles being the last to strike ... to ensure we retain the element of surprise throughout the operation." Once the bombs had been released, the aircraft left Iranian airspace and the "package began its return home". General Caine called the decoy move a "deception effort" and said it was only known to an "extremely small number of planners and key leaders" in Washington and Tampa, Florida where the US Central Command is based. US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have said the targets were obliterated, but are yet to provide evidence of the extent of the damage. General Caine was more measured, saying damage assessments would take some time, but that: "initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction." Inside Iran, state media initially downplayed the damage, saying they had prepared for the attack, but it is also hard to verify those claims. General Caine said throughout the mission, the US retained the element of surprise. "Iran's fighters did not fly and it appears that Iran's surface to air missile systems did not see us," he said. The president of the United States had spent the week seemingly racing towards a decision on whether to strike inside Iran, only then to issue a single-line statement via his press secretary that he would give himself two weeks to make the decision. In the end, he took two days. And from details released on Sunday, local time, at the Pentagon, it appears that the US plan to send its finest war machines to bomb a former ally was very much ready, just waiting to be put in motion. Mr Hegseth said: "This mission was not and has not been about regime change." "The president authorised a precision operation to neutralise the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self-defence of our troops," he said. 'The United States does not seek war. But let me be clear we will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened." ABC
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
US military involvement in Iran 'not open-ended': Hegseth
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says the US strike was a targeted mission and called for an immediate peace settlement.
