Hegseth claims US ‘obliterated' Iranian nuclear sites despite lack of assessment

The Guardian

3 hours ago

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, on Sunday repeated claims by Donald Trump that US strikes had completely destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities and its ability to acquire nuclear weapons even as the Pentagon acknowledged it was too early to provide a full damage assessment.
At a news conference, Hegseth and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Dan Caine, said the strikes, codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, devastated the Iranian nuclear program.
The remarks from Hegseth in particular amounted to repeated praise for Trump and the operation that targeted the nuclear enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow, the key facility buried deep underground, and a third site at Esfahan where Iran was seen to store enriched uranium.
'It was an incredible and overwhelming success. The order we received from our commander in chief was focused,' Hegseth said wearing a blue suit and US flag motif pocket square in the Pentagon briefing room, the first time he has appeared there since becoming the secretary.
'Thanks to President Trump's bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated,' Hegseth said. 'The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant.'
According to Caine, who was seen in pictures released by the White House to have been in the Situation Room as the operation unfolded, the bombing raid involved a two-part strike package of B-2 bombers and fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets launching from the US.
The operation started around midnight on Friday, when the main contingent of bombers departed from the Whiteman air force base in Missouri and flew towards Iran, while another contingent flew in the opposite direction over the Pacific Ocean as a decoy effort.
The main contingent involved seven B-2 bombers flying for 18 nonstop hours into Iranian airspace, refueling multiple times in the air, while unidentified fighter jets swept ahead of the group for possible Iranian fighter jets and surface-to-air missile threats over the nuclear sites.
Caine said the Pentagon was not aware of any shots fired at the bombers as they flew into Iran and dropped the first of 14 so-called 'bunker buster' bombs, technically known as GBU-57s on the Fordow enrichment facility under the cover of darkness around 2.10am local time.
After the bombers dropped the GBU-57s on Fordow and Natanz, Caine said, a navy submarine fired a series of Tomahawk missiles at the Esfahan site, as the aircraft turned around to fly back to the US.
'We are unaware of any shots fired at the Package on the way out. 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 added.
The actual extent of the damage in particular to Fordow, the site Trump has been most focused on destroying because of its hard-to-reach nature, was not immediately clear. Neither Hegseth nor Caine provided details beyond their initial assessment that it had been 'obliterated'.
Following Trump's remarks in a televised address from the White House on Saturday night that the US could launch more attacks on Iran unless they started peace talks, Hegseth said the administration was in contact with the country's leadership through public and private channels.
'They understand precisely what the American position is, precisely what steps they can take to allow for peace – and we hope they do so,' Hegseth told reporters.
'I think Tehran is certainly calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America and Missouri overnight, completely undetected over three of their most highly sensitive sites,' Hegseth added. 'We believe that will have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future.'
Hegseth also said at the news conference that congressional leaders were notified about the strikes after the bombers left Iranian airspace – a decision that is sure to draw criticism from Democrats that Trump engaged in a conflict without the authorization of Congress.