The News
The US bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday evening, President Donald Trump said.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US had completed a “very successful attack” on the nuclear sites Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. He added that the US planes were already safe and on their way back. He warned Iran that more strikes would come if its leaders did not join negotiations over the country’s nuclear program.
“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump said. “Remember, there are many targets left.”
“If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill,” he added.
Iranian media confirmed shortly after Trump’s announcement that “enemy airstrikes” had targeted the three nuclear facilities. The country’s nuclear agency characterizing the attacks as “barbaric” and in violation of international law, insisting the operation would not stop Iran’s atomic activities.
Iranian authorities and the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, respectively said there were no signs of contamination or increase in radiation levels as a result of the strikes.
Know More
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told reporters on Sunday that initial information indicated that all three nuclear sites sustained “extremely severe damage and destruction,” though he noted that final damage assessments were still being conducted.
The US did not notify other regional partners ahead of the attack and only briefed Congress after the strikes were conducted and the B-2 stealth bombers left Iran, Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth said at a press briefing. A senior White House official earlier told Semafor that the US notified Israel before the strikes and that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke afterwards.
US forces in the region were on high alert for potential retaliation by Iran or its proxies, Caine said, adding that the Pentagon had increased protection of forces in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
Step Back
Trump’s decision came after days of uncertainty over whether the US should get more directly involved in Israel’s attack against Iran. The president initially appeared to favor a delay in any attack to give diplomatic efforts more time, nudging Iran to come to the table to discuss curtailing its nuclear program.
But over the course of the week, sources familiar with the situation told Semafor, the president and top White House officials became more convinced that Iran wasn’t willing to negotiate. The president, even while signaling on Thursday that he would make a decision within two weeks, was said to already be leaning toward direct action by the US.
Trump spent days receiving a wide range of opinions on the topic, which split his domestic political base amid bipartisan concerns about entangling the US in the sort of costly war he campaigned on avoiding. Some Trump allies, like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, argued against involvement. Others, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., urged him to strike.
Trump also weighed the various risks involved in striking Iran, including the possibility of depleting the United States’ already low critical munitions, whether the bombs would effectively eliminate Iran’s nuclear facilities, and whether US troops in the region would be at risk of retaliation.
The president sought, even as he announced the strikes, to make clear that he did not want to bring the US into a prolonged war.
“Now is the time for peace!” Trump wrote after announcing the strikes.
Notable
- The Navy dissented last week from US plans to shift assets toward the conflict, citing concerns about scheduled maintenance cycles, Semafor reported last week.