US attack on Iran was carried out ‘in full co-ordination' with Israel
'Fordow is gone' was the simple message sent by US president
Donald Trump
on social media early on Sunday, putting an end to days of speculation over whether he would be willing to provide the coup de grace to
Iran's
nuclear project.
Seven B-2 bombers dropped a dozen 'bunker buster' bombs on the Fordow nuclear facility while navy submarines fired 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles at two other nuclear sites, Natanz and Isfahan.
The US strikes came nine days after
Israel's
surprise attack on Iran, launching a war that has reshaped the Middle East, lifting Israel's military supremacy to new heights while leaving Iran and its so-called Axis of Resistance in tatters – and, at the same time, reinforcing Washington's image as the pre-eminent global superpower.
Israeli prime minister
Binyamin Netanyahu
said the US attack was carried out 'in full co-ordination' with Israel and was a continuation of the Israeli military and Mossad operations in Iran against the Iranian nuclear programme, which he said threatened Israel's existence and endangered world peace.
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'At the beginning of the operation, I promised you that Iran's nuclear facilities would be destroyed one way or another. That promise has been kept,' he said.
'President Trump is leading the free world with strength. He is a great friend of Israel, a friend like no other.'
Despite the apparent success of the American bombing, it remains unclear how much of its supply of enriched uranium Iran managed to transfer away from the nuclear sites that were hit.
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US attack on Iran 'not about regime change', says defence secretary after Trump hails 'spectacular military success'
]
Israel's national security council chief Tzachi Hanegbi said the US attack had pushed Iran's nuclear programme back by several years.
A few hours later, Iran launched 30 ballistic missiles towards Israel, scoring direct hits in Tel Aviv and another location in central Israel, injuring 30 people.
However, the attack was no bigger than similar strikes last week. The discipline of residents, who headed to safe rooms and bomb shelters, ensured there were no fatalities despite large damage to buildings.
Israel temporarily closed its airspace after the US attack and reinstituted strict guidelines for public gatherings, permitting only essential activity.
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran reserved all options to defend its sovereignty, interests and people', warning that the US attack would have 'everlasting consequences.'
However, Iran's military options appear limited and would be likely prompt a US counter attack.
Houthis in Yemen also threatened to respond, after previously warning that a US strike would lead to a resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.
For much of his political career Netanyahu has made thwarting Iran's nuclear programme his priority, raising the issue in speech after speech in apocalyptic terms, arguing that Iran would not be deterred and that an Iranian nuclear bomb would present an existential threat to Israel.
With Israeli intelligence concluding Tehran was moving dangerously close to the bomb, something had to give between the two rival regional powers.
Israel believed that following the defeat of Hizbullah and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria last year, Tehran took a strategic decision to acquire a nuclear bomb and already had enough enriched fissile material for at least nine bombs. The decades-long waiting game was over.
The deadly
Hamas
attack on southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, resulted in the biggest number of Jews killed in a single day since the Holocaust. Most Israelis believed this traumatic event would become Netanyahu's legacy: a day of infamy he would never be able to erase.
But he now sees an opportunity to reshape that legacy once again and go down in history as the leader who with patience and determination saved Israel from the threat of nuclear annihilation.
It's a narrative that the majority of the Israeli public appear to be buying into – for now, at least.
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Irish Daily Star
24 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Star
Trump threatens regime change in Iran with chilling ‘MIGA' social post following bombings
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Irish Examiner
36 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: There is no endgame in Iran-US conflict
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RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
World awaits Iranian response after US hits nuclear sites
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"This mission was not and has not been about regime change," Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon. "The president authorised a precision operation to neutralise the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear programme." Anti-war activists organised demonstrations in New York, Washington and other US cities, with protesters carrying signs that read "hands off Iran". Meanwhile, Iranians contacted by Reuters described their fear at the prospect of an enlarged conflict involving the US. "Our future is dark. We have nowhere to go - it's like living in a horror movie," Bita, 36, a teacher from the central city of Kashan, said before the phone line was cut. Much of Tehran, a capital city of 10 million people, has emptied out, with residents fleeing to the countryside to escape Israeli bombardment. Iranian authorities say more than 400 people have been killed since Israel's attacks began, mostly civilians. Iran has been launching missiles back at Israel, killing at least 24 people over the past nine days. Air raid sirens sounded across most of Israel yesterday, sending millions of people to safe rooms. In Tel Aviv, Aviad Chernovsky, 40, emerged from a bomb shelter to find his house had been destroyed in a direct hit. "It's not easy to live now in Israel (right now), but we are very strong. We know that we will win," he said.
