Trump says US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites a 'spectacular military success'
[Editor's Note: Follow our live blog for real-time updates on the latest developments in the Israel-Iran conflict.]
US forces struck Iran's three main nuclear sites, President Donald Trump said late on Saturday, and he warned Tehran it would face more devastating attacks if it does not agree to peace.
After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump's decision to join Israel's military campaign against its major rival Iran is a major escalation of the conflict and risks opening a new era of instability in the Middle East.
"The strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in a televised address. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."
In a speech that lasted just over three minutes, Trump said Iran's future held "either peace or tragedy", and there were many other targets that could be hit by the US military.
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"If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill."
The US reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the US plans and it does not aim for regime change, CBS News reported.
Trump said US forces struck Iran's three principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. He told Fox News' Sean Hannity show that six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites.
US B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Fordow is gone."
Reuters had reported earlier on Saturday the movement of the B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry massive bombs that experts say would be needed to strike Fordow, which is buried beneath a mountain south of Tehran. Given its fortification, it will likely be days, if not longer, before the impact of the strikes is known.
An Iranian official, cited by Tasnim news agency, confirmed part of the Fordow site was attacked by "enemy airstrikes".
However, Mohammad Manan Raisi, a lawmaker for Qom, near Fordow, told the semi-official Fars news agency the facility had not been seriously damaged.
Iranian media quoted Iran's nuclear body as saying there were no signs of contamination after the attacks, and no danger to residents living nearby.
Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran's state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites some time ago.
"The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots," he told the channel.
Diplomacy unsuccessful
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on his "bold decision".
"History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime, the world's most dangerous weapons," Netanyahu said.
The strikes came as Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat that has resulted in deaths and injuries in both countries.
Israel launched the attacks on Iran saying it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Diplomatic efforts by Western nations to stop the hostilities have so far failed. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Saturday's strikes a "dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security".
Both sides' attacks on energy infrastructure, including by Israel on Iran's South Pars gas field and the risk of a complete shutdown of the OPEC member's oil production, as well as Iran targeting shipping in the Straits of Hormuz, have fuelled fears of a spike in oil prices and impacts on economies worldwide.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was due to hold a news conference at the Pentagon early on Sunday.
In recent days, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have argued that Trump must receive permission from the US Congress before committing the US military to any combat against Iran.
Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi applauded the operation but cautioned that the US now faced "very serious choices ahead".
One Republican lawmaker, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, simply said, "This is not constitutional." Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said it was "absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment".
Many in Trump's MAGA movement oppose US entanglement in foreign military operations. Trump ally Steve Bannon said on his War Room podcast that the president's address was probably not what a lot of MAGA supporters wanted to hear, and he called on Trump to offer a "deeper explanation" for why US involvement was necessary.
Trump-aligned commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X: "America stands with President Trump."
Israel launched attacks on June 13, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies.
At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the health ministry.
In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed and 1,272 people injured, according to local authorities.
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Recap
Here's a quick recap of the developments from the past few hours: Donald Trump said US air strikes had "completely and totally obliterated" three Iranian nuclear sites, as Washington directly joined Israel's assault on Iran. The president warned that if Iran did not make peace, the US would go after further targets Iranian officials confirmed on Sunday that parts of nuclear sites were struck, including Fordow, the secretive Iranian nuclear enrichment facility buried half a kilometre under a mountain near the city of Qom. Sites in Isfahan and Natanz were also struck Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, the government body responsible for nuclear energy, said that it would not allow the development of its "national industry" to be stopped There had been "no signs of contamination" after the US strikes, and therefore there was no danger for inhabitants living near the sites, according to Iranian authorities Israel was in "perfect coordination" with Washington over the strikes, Benjamin Netanyahu said. The Israeli prime minister praised a "bold decision" by Trump, saying it would "change history" Israel closed its airspace until further notice "due to recent developments", the Israel Airports Authority said The Israeli military raised the country's alert level following the US strikes. Schools and workplaces would be closed under the new restrictions, with the exception of "essential sectors"
