The US leader said Iran must quickly make peace or he will authorize larger attacks
President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the US had carried out airstrikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
In an address to the nation, Trump said that Iran’s three main nuclear enrichment sites had been “completely obliterated.” Trump added that if “peace does not come quickly,” the US would conduct larger attacks soon.
Iranian state media downplayed the purported success of the strike, saying that personnel and nuclear material were removed from the facilities before the attack.
Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin spoke with a “well-placed source” who did not believe the Esfahan facility was destroyed. “There is no way they got in that tunnel It’s deeper than [Fordow]- and harder rock,” they explained.
I am told by experts that the underground tunnel at Isfahan is a MUCH harder target than Fordow and it is not clear whether the Tomahawks were able to destroy it.
“ There is no way they got in that tunnel
It’s deeper than Qom – and harder rock,” well placed source tells Fox.…— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) June 22, 2025
Axios reporter Barak Ravid said an Israeli official confirmed that Tel Aviv was informed about the strikes in advance. The journalist added that Trump called him following the attack to say that “We had great success tonight. Your Israel is much safer now.”
Ravid is an Israeli citizen who served in an Israeli Army intelligence unit.
Trump also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the strike.
Netanyahu posted a video message to social media on Saturday night praising Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. “Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the US will change history.” The Israeli leader continued, “In operation Rising Lion, Israel has done truly amazing things. But in tonight’s action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, America has been truly unsurpassed. It has done what no other country on earth could do.”
President Trump and I often say: ‘Peace through strength.’
First comes strength, then comes peace.
And tonight, @realDonaldTrump and the United States acted with a lot of strength. pic.twitter.com/7lTWCZkgw7
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) June 22, 2025
An unnamed US official cited by Reuters confirmed that B-2 bombers were involved in the attack. Earlier on Saturday, six B-2s departed a US airbase in Missouri, with officials saying they were en route to Guam.
The B-2 Spirit can be equipped with the GBU-57A/B MOP, a 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb that some US officials believed was capable of destroying Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site.
Fox News host Sean Hannity said that six GBU-57s were used to strike Fordow. The nuclear facilities in Natanz and Esfahan were reportedly targeted with 30 submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles.
Shortly after announcing the attack, Trump posted an image from the “Open Source Intel” X account which claimed that Fordow was “gone.” The owner of the account says he is based in Israel.
Following the attack, the Pentagon began warning US troops in the region that the strikes likely put them in danger of Iranian retaliatory attacks. Journalist Ken Klippenstein reports obtaining a briefing that said strikes on Iran “will likely result in counterstrikes on US bases and facilities” in the Middle East, and “likely activate Iran and other foreign terrorist organizations cells abroad including the US to conduct strikes against US persons and facilities.”
In a post to Truth Social later on Saturday night, Trump threatened that any Iranian response “WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT.”
The American strike follows Israeli requests for the US to enter the war that Tel Aviv started with Iran last week. In the days leading up to the operation, Trump appeared convinced that Iran was just weeks away from building a nuclear weapon, an intelligence assessment that originated with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. That message was amplified in the White House by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
This article was originally featured at Antiwar.com and is republished with permission.
