logo
Wetin we know about US strikes on Iran nuclear facilities

Wetin we know about US strikes on Iran nuclear facilities

BBC News3 hours ago

President Donald Trump say di US don carry out a "successful" bombing attack on three nuclear sites in Iran and say dem destroy dem.
Israel say dem follow for di "full co-ordination" wit di US to plan di strikes. Iranian officials don confam say dia facilities come under attack but deny any major blow.
Di strikes mark a many rise in di ongoing war between Iran and Israel.
Hia na wetin we know.
Wetin di US bomb gan-gan, and which weapons dem use?
One of di targets na Fordo, a uranium enrichment plant dem hide for one remote mountainside wey dey important to Iran nuclear ambitions. We neva know di level of damage for di facility.
Di US say dem also hit two oda nuclear sites - for Natanz and Isfahan.
Sometin wey dem hide for one mountainside south of Tehran, tori be say wia dem hide Fordo dey deep underground pass di Channel Tunnel wey connect di UK and France.
Due to how Fordo deep reach only di "bunker buster" bomb wey US get dey big enof to destroy di site. Dat US bomb na wetin dem dey call di GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).
E get weight of 13,000kg (30,000lb) and e fit penetrate about 18m (60ft) of concrete or 61m (200ft) of earth before exploding, according to experts.
Due to di depths of Fordo tunnels, di MOP no dey guaranteed to dey successful, but na di only bomb wey fit come close.
US media report say dem use MOPs for di strikes.
Update about di impact of di attacks?
E no dey clear yet di kain damage di US attack get on di nuclear facilities, or whether any injuries or casualties dey.
Di Iranian Atomic Energy Organization say di bombing of di three nuclear sites na "barbaric violation" of international law.
Both Saudi Arabia and di United Nations' nuclear watchdog say dem neva notice increase in radiation levels afta di attack.
Di deputy political director of Iran state broadcaster, Hassan Abedini, say Iran do remove dis three nuclear sites a "while ago".
Appearing on state-run TV, e say Iran "no suffer a major blow becos dem den don already remove di materials".
For im televised address, Trump say di "nuclear enrichment facilities don dey completely and totally destroyed".
But speaking ontop BBC News Channel, former US assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs Mark Kimmitt dey reason am some how.
"No way dey to suggest dem don destroy am permanently," e tok.
Iran foreign minister don warn di US say dia attack on Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz go get "everlasting consequences."
Abbas Araghchi say Iran still dey chaeck "all options" to defend dia sovereignty.
How Iran fit take revenge?
Since Israel launch a surprise attack on dozens of Iranian nuclear and military targets on 13 June, Iran don dey weakened seriously, experts tok.
Iran still dey capable of doing a sizable amount of damage.
Previously, Iranian officials warn di US say make dem no involve dia sef, saying dem go suffer "irreparable damage" and dem risk an "all-out war" in di region.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner say Iran must now choose between three strategic courses of action in response to di US attack overnight:
Di US dey operate military sites across at least 19 kontris for di Middle East, including Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and di United Arab Emirates.
Among di most obvious targets for Iran na di US Navy 5th Fleet HQ for Mina Salman in Bahrain.
Dem fit also target shipping lanes in di Strait of Hormuz, wey link di Persian Gulf to di Indian Ocean and through which dem dey transport 30% of di world oil supply. Dem fit also attack oda sea routes wey risk destabilising global markets.
Iran fit also target di assets of nearby wey dem believe say dey allow US, wey fit make di war spread go di entire region.
In di hours afta di US bombing, Iran launch a fresh wave of missiles towards Israel. Dem hear explosions for Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Wetin Trump tok and how US politicians don react?
Beside am na Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump for im address tok say future attacks go dey "far greater" unless Iran settle for a diplomatic solution.
"Remember, many targets still dey," e tok.
Several members of Trump Republican Party don post statements in support of di move. Texas Senator Ted Cruz "commend" di president, im administration and di US military wey involve for di strikes.
However, leading US Democrat Hakeem Jeffries say Trump risk US "involvement in a potentially disastrous war for di Middle East", while odas don accuse am say e bypass Congress to launch a new war.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders describe di US strikes as "grossly unconstitutional" as di president no get di sole power to formally declare war on anodz kontri. Only Congress – lawmakers wey dem elect for di House of Representatives and di Senate - fit.
But di law also tok say di president na di commander in chief of di armed forces. Wey mean say e fit deploy US troops and conduct military operations without a formal declaration of war.
How dis mata start?
Israel launch a surprise attack on dozens of Iranian nuclear and military targets on 13 June. Dem say dia ambition na to dismantle Iran nuclear programme, wey Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say go soon fit produce a nuclear bomb.
Iran insists say dia nuclear ambitions dey peaceful. In retaliation, Tehran launch hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel. Di two kontris don kontinu to exchange strikes since, for air war wey don last pass one week.
Trump bin don tok say e no like di idea say Iran get nuclear weapon. Tori be say Israel also get dia own, although dem neva confam or deny am.
For March, US national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard say while Iran don increase dia uranium stockpile to unprecedented levels, dem no dey build a nuclear weapon - one assessment wey Trump recently say no "correct".
During campaign, Trump bin don criticised past US administrations for engaging in "stupid endless wars" for di Middle East, and e vow to keep America out of foreign conflicts.
Di US and Iran bin dey do tok-tok at di time of Israel surprise attack. Only two days ago, Trump say e go give Iran two weeks to enta into substantial negotiations bifor striking - but dat timeline turn out to be much shorter.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Every time Starmer wants us to think the best of Trump, the US president proves him wrong
Every time Starmer wants us to think the best of Trump, the US president proves him wrong

The Independent

time9 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Every time Starmer wants us to think the best of Trump, the US president proves him wrong

Just five days ago Sir Keir Starmer sat down with the travelling pack of UK journalists at the G7 in Canada and assured them and their readers that Donald Trump would not attack Iran. He said:"There is nothing the president said that suggests he's about to get involved in this conflict, on the contrary, the G7 statement was about de-escalation. "I think what he said was he wanted to go beyond a ceasefire effectively and end the conflict. And I think he's right about that. I mean, a ceasefire is always a means to an end. "That is consistent with what we agreed around the table yesterday. And throughout the dinner yesterday I was sitting right next to President Trump, so I've no doubt, in my mind, the level of agreement there was in relation to the words that were then issued immediately after that, pretty soon after the dinner.' He made a point of being at the table sitting next to Trump to underline that his reading of what the US president would do was correct. At that point Trump had left the resort in Alberta early and was back in the White House. Just hours later he was posting threats to Iran on Truth Social. Then last night, five days after Starmer addressed journalists, he authorised the bombing of Iran having given them two weeks on Friday to get back to the negotiating table. The question though is: Why does the prime minister just keep getting it so wrong about what the US president will say and do? This is not the first time that Sir Keir has suggested Trump will do one thing and then the US president has done the opposite. We can go back to Starmer's cosy chat in the Oval Office when the two had their first formal meeting as prime minister and president in March. At the time and just before handing Trump the invitation from the King for a state visit, Sir Keir said he wanted 'to thank you for changing the conversation on the war in Ukraine.' It seemed an odd phrase even then given that Trump seemed to be dead set on forcing Ukraine to accept a peace on Russia's terms. But it looked far worse 24 hours later after vice president J.D. Vance and president Trump berated and humiliated Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky in the same Oval Office forcing him to leave their meeting. Then in May Sir Keir and President Trump were on the opposite ends of a public zoom call congratulating each other for the trade deal they had just struck over the White House's global tariff regime. 'Donald, thank you for your leadership,' the prime minister said, emphasising the first name terms. All seemed well until later in the month when Trump announced steel tariffs would be 50 per cent, not 25 per cent, and it turned out the UK/ US trade deal had not actually been implemented. It took til last week to get most of the deal implemented apart from steel which is still subject to discussions with the UK tariff remaining at 25 per cent with a hope of zero per cent still on the table. At every turn it appears that the prime minister wants us to think the best of Trump only for the US president to be apparently determined to prove him quickly wrong. It may be wishful thinking on Sir Keir's part. After all, he is constantly hoping Trump will do the right thing. There is a case to point out that what else could he say in these circumstances especially as his primary diplomatic policy appears to be to assuage Trump's ego and butter the US president up as much as possible. To be fair, Starmer has had more success than most on the international stage and he rightly speaks of his 'warm relationship' with the US president who in turn has gone out of his way to praise the prime minister's leadership. There is a sense from a popular American phrase of 'speaking things into existence', in that if you want something to happen it is better to say it will happen and hope that is enough to ensure it does. But perhaps it is because of the quixotic nature of the US president. He thinks one thing at one moment and then changes his mind when he leaves the room. It could be all of the above. But even those who wanted to believe Starmer last week thought he was being extremely naive in suggesting the president was pursuing de-escalation. It all reflects a complex international situation for the prime minister in his first year and one which is only going to heat up further. The problem is that our prime minister seems incapable of guessing what the biggest international player and UK's most important ally will do next.

Diplomacy not an option, warns Iran after US attacks key nuclear sites
Diplomacy not an option, warns Iran after US attacks key nuclear sites

Rhyl Journal

time9 minutes ago

  • Rhyl Journal

Diplomacy not an option, warns Iran after US attacks key nuclear sites

Abbas Araghchi said while the 'door to diplomacy' should always be open, 'this is not the case right now'. The United States attacked three sites in Iran overnight, inserting itself into Israel's war aimed at destroying the country's nuclear programme, and President Donald Trump claimed the facilities had been 'completely and fully obliterated'. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran confirmed attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but it insisted its nuclear programme will not be stopped. Mr Araghchi said: 'The warmongering, lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far reaching implications of its act of aggression.' He said 'there is no red line' that the US has not crossed, adding: 'The most dangerous one was what happened only last night when they crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities only.' Satellite images taken on Sunday show damage to the mountainside at the underground site at Fordo. The images, by Planet Labs PBC, show the once-brown mountain now has parts turned grey and its contours appear slightly different than in previous images, suggesting a blast threw up debris around the site. That suggests the use of specialised American bunker-buster bombs on the facility. Light grey smoke also hung in the air. Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination at the three locations following the strikes. It is not clear whether the US will continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a nine-day war with Iran. Mr Trump acted without congressional authorisation, and he warned there will be additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against US forces. 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,' he said. Iran's foreign ministry said Washington had 'betrayed diplomacy' with the military strikes, and that 'the US has itself launched a dangerous war against Iran'. Its statement added: 'The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to resist with full force against US military aggression and the crimes committed by this rogue regime, and to defend Iran's security and national interests.' Hours after the American attacks, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a barrage of 40 missiles at Israel, including its Khorramshahr-4, which can carry multiple warheads. Israeli authorities reported that more than 80 people suffered mostly minor injuries, though one multi-storey building in Tel Aviv was significantly damaged, with its entire facade torn away to expose the apartments inside. Houses across the street were almost completely destroyed. Following the Iranian barrage, Israel's military said it had 'swiftly neutralised' the Iranian missile launchers that had fired, and that it had begun a series of strikes towards military targets in western Iran. Iran has maintained its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Mr Trump and Israeli leaders have argued Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon, making it an imminent threat. The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel that significantly degraded Iran's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, and damaged its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said American B-2 stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb that only they have been configured to carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground. Mr Trump appears to have made the calculation – at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republicans – that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear programme, perhaps permanently. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan,' Mr Trump said in a post on social media. 'All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordo. All planes are safely on their way home.' — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2025 Mr Trump later added: 'This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!' Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the US attacks. US officials said the attack used bunker-buster bombs on Iran's Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, while submarines launched about 30 Tomahawk missiles. The decision to attack was a risky one for Mr Trump, who won the White House partially on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. But he has vowed he will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and he had initially hoped the threat of force would bring the country's leaders to give up its nuclear programme peacefully.

Diplomacy not an option, warns Iran after US attacks key nuclear sites
Diplomacy not an option, warns Iran after US attacks key nuclear sites

South Wales Argus

time9 minutes ago

  • South Wales Argus

Diplomacy not an option, warns Iran after US attacks key nuclear sites

Abbas Araghchi said while the 'door to diplomacy' should always be open, 'this is not the case right now'. The United States attacked three sites in Iran overnight, inserting itself into Israel's war aimed at destroying the country's nuclear programme, and President Donald Trump claimed the facilities had been 'completely and fully obliterated'. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran confirmed attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but it insisted its nuclear programme will not be stopped. Mr Araghchi said: 'The warmongering, lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far reaching implications of its act of aggression.' He said 'there is no red line' that the US has not crossed, adding: 'The most dangerous one was what happened only last night when they crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities only.' Satellite images taken on Sunday show damage to the mountainside at the underground site at Fordo. The images, by Planet Labs PBC, show the once-brown mountain now has parts turned grey and its contours appear slightly different than in previous images, suggesting a blast threw up debris around the site. That suggests the use of specialised American bunker-buster bombs on the facility. Light grey smoke also hung in the air. Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination at the three locations following the strikes. It is not clear whether the US will continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a nine-day war with Iran. Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles in the hours after the US attack (Oded Balilty/AP) Mr Trump acted without congressional authorisation, and he warned there will be additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against US forces. 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,' he said. Iran's foreign ministry said Washington had 'betrayed diplomacy' with the military strikes, and that 'the US has itself launched a dangerous war against Iran'. Its statement added: 'The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to resist with full force against US military aggression and the crimes committed by this rogue regime, and to defend Iran's security and national interests.' Hours after the American attacks, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a barrage of 40 missiles at Israel, including its Khorramshahr-4, which can carry multiple warheads. Israeli authorities reported that more than 80 people suffered mostly minor injuries, though one multi-storey building in Tel Aviv was significantly damaged, with its entire facade torn away to expose the apartments inside. Houses across the street were almost completely destroyed. Following the Iranian barrage, Israel's military said it had 'swiftly neutralised' the Iranian missile launchers that had fired, and that it had begun a series of strikes towards military targets in western Iran. President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the White House following the air strikes (Carlos Barria/pool/AP) Iran has maintained its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Mr Trump and Israeli leaders have argued Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon, making it an imminent threat. The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel that significantly degraded Iran's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, and damaged its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said American B-2 stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb that only they have been configured to carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground. Mr Trump appears to have made the calculation – at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republicans – that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear programme, perhaps permanently. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan,' Mr Trump said in a post on social media. 'All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordo. All planes are safely on their way home.' Mr Trump later added: 'This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!' Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the US attacks. US officials said the attack used bunker-buster bombs on Iran's Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, while submarines launched about 30 Tomahawk missiles. The decision to attack was a risky one for Mr Trump, who won the White House partially on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. But he has vowed he will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and he had initially hoped the threat of force would bring the country's leaders to give up its nuclear programme peacefully.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store