THE US military has bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities in an historic strike against the Islamic Republic.
America has now directly joined Israel’s campaign as they both seek to obliterate Tehran’s nuclear program.
President Donald Trump announced the strikes in a surprise late-night post on TruthSocial.
He said US bombers had hit three nuclear plants in Iran at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan – all key to Iran’s doomsday project.
The bombings come just two days after Trump said he would decide “within two weeks” whether to join key ally Israel in attacking Iran.
In a nationally televised speech at the White House, Trump said: “Tonight I can report to the world that 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.
“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 the US and Israel worked as a “team”, adding: “I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
“We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel.”
Netanyahu said afterwards: “Congratulations, President Trump.
“Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous mind of the United States will change history.
The US is now bracing for Iran to shoot back – with Trump warning they shouldn’t and should instead look for peace.
But pro-Ayatollah voices have already shot back, warning Trump’s bombing would be “a recipe for all-out war” in the region.
Hossein Shariatmadari, a pro-regime media figure, said: “It is now our turn to act without delay.
“As a first step, we must launch a missile strike on the US naval fleet in Bahrain and simultaneously close the Strait of Hormuz to American, British, German, and French ships.”
The US military used six of their flagship B-2 bombers to drop 12 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) 30,000lb “bunker-buster” bombs on Fordow, officials revealed.
They said the assessments indicated that the facility had been “taken off the table”.
While 30 BGM-109 Tomahawk Land-Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAMs) were launched from submarines with the US Navy at the Natanz and Isfahan Nuclear Facilities.
It marked the first combat use of GBU-57 MOP in the history of warfare.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported early Sunday that attacks targeted the country’s Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites.
IRNA quoted Akbar Salehi, Isfahan’s deputy governor in charge of security affairs, saying there had been attacks around the sites. He did not elaborate.
Another official confirmed an attack targeting Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site.
On Saturday, the US deployed B-2 long-range stealth bombers capable of dropping the bunker-buster bombs required to wipe out Iran’s most secretive nuclear facility – Fordow.
Israel said its airstrikes on Iran will not stop until it destroys the regime’s capability of enriching uranium to weapons-grade and making a nuclear weapon.
At the heart of its nuclear program, the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, is encased in steel more than 300 feet beneath solid rock.
Israel’s arsenal lacked huge bunker-buster bombs needed to destroy the underground enrichment facility – some 125 miles from capital Tehran.
The attack now threatens to ignite a massive Middle East war involving the US, Israel and Iran.
UN chief Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran”.
He called it a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge and a direct threat to international peace and security.”
He added: “There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.
“At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos. There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace.”
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said it would not allow the development of its “national industry” to be stopped, and said the attacks violated international law. It did not clarify the extent of damage.
Israel launched a surprise barrage of attacks on sites in Iran on June 13, which Israeli officials said was necessary to head off what they claimed was an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs.
Iran, which has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with a series of missile and drone strikes in Israel, while Israel has continued to strike sites in Iran.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14534022/us-bombs-iran-fordow-israel/
