Trump Says U.S. Struck Three Iran Nuclear Sites—Tehran Says This Starts A ‘Dangerous War’

Topline

The U.S. has conducted aerial strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, President Donald Trump said Saturday, marking the U.S.’ entry into the Israel-Iran conflict—with Trump warning future attacks would be “greater” if Iran doesn’t “make peace.”

Key Facts

Trump said in a Truth Social post: “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” saying a full payload of bombs was dropped on the heavily fortified Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

Trump said all planes involved in the strike are out of Iranian air space and are “on their way home,” adding, “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE.”

The president called the strike a “HISTORIC MOMENT” for the U.S., Israel and the world.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the strikes, saying the U.S. “betrayed diplomacy” and “launched a dangerous war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

According to a Telegram post by Iranian state media—which has been translated from Farsi to English through Google Translate—the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the U.S. military’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites stand in violation of international laws, specifically the United Nations’ Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and called for international support for Iran and a condemnation of the attack.

The strikes came hours after Iran’s foreign minister said U.S. involvement would be “very dangerous for everybody” and about a day after negotiations between Iran and European leaders fell flat.

Iran’s state-run news agency acknowledged the attack on the Fordow facility and said the strike activated air defenses, the Associated Press reported.

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Crucial Quote

In an address to the nation Saturday night, President Donald Trump said “the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.” Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before,” and thanked the Israeli military for the “wonderful job they’ve done.”

What Do We Know About The U.s. Bunker Buster Bombs?

The “bunker buster” refers to several deep-penetrating ordnances, but in targeting Fordow, the U.S. military likely needed to use the GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The 30,000-pound precision-guided weapon is the largest and heaviest piece of conventional air-dropped bomb deployed by the U.S. military. The bomb is also significantly larger than the biggest “bunker buster” in the Israeli military’s arsenal, the 5,000-pound GBU-28. The GBU-57 is believed to be capable of penetrating about 200 feet of mountain rock before it detonates.

Why Was The U.s. Military Needed To Deploy The Bunker Busters?

Due to the GBU-57’s massive size, it can only be deployed by the B-2 Spirit stealth strategic bomber. The B-2 is only operated by the U.S. Air Force and the Israeli military lacks any large strategic bombers in its fleet to deliver such a weapon.

Key Background

The Israel-Iran conflict reignited a little more than a week ago when Israeli forces carried out strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, killing several top Iranian generals and nuclear scientists. The two countries have exchanged military strikes since then, with Israel claiming Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon. Israel also said this week it could carry out the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities without help from the U.S. Trump mulled joining the Israeli strikes over the past four days and called for Iran’s unconditional surrender. Iran has insisted it is prepared for a long confrontation with Israel, while Trump has claimed the U.S. is “not looking for a long-term war” and saying “I only want one thing: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” Israeli strikes against Iran continued Saturday, when Iran’s health ministry reported some 400 people had been killed and over 3,000 people injured.