US attacks Iran: Strikes 3 nuclear sites
Washington: President Donald Trump has said that the US military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel’s effort to decapitate the country’s nuclear programme in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
The decision to directly involve the US comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country’s air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities.
But US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-lb bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan," Trump said in a post on social media on Saturday.
“All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.”
Trump said B-2 stealth bombers were used but did not specify which types of bombs were dropped. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation.
The strikes are a perilous decision for the US as Iran has pledged to retaliate if it joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally, having won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran. He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks, a timeline that seemed drawn out as the situation was evolving quickly.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday warned the United States that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them”.
Live
Netanyahu welcomes US strikes
June 22, 2025 9:40 am
Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump's decision to attack in a video message directed to the American president.
“Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities, with the awesome and righteous might of the United States, will change history,” he said.
Netanyahu said the US “has done what no other country on earth could do”. AP
Quiet outside White House as Trump describes Iran strikes
June 22, 2025 9:40 am
Tel Aviv: After Trump spoke to the country about the bombing in Iran, the White House had an eerie calm.
There was darkness outside the West Wing, other than bright TV crew lights and yellow lights from the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building overlooking the White House.
A siren rang in the background in city traffic that continued without pausing for the historic moment.
Trump's speech came on in the overhead speakers in the White House press area, only for his voice to give way to a sudden silence after he thanked God. AP
Trump calls Netanyahu after strikes
June 22, 2025 9:39 am
Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video that Trump called him after the strikes.
“It was a very warm conversation, very emotional,” Netanyahu said.
Speaking in Hebrew, he called Trump a friend of Israel like no one before him.
“In my name, and on behalf of all citizens of Israel and on behalf of the entire Jewish world, I thank him from the bottom of my heart.” AP
US strikes on Iran used bunker buster' bombs, cruise missiles
June 22, 2025 9:39 am
Washington: The US military used “bunker-buster” bombs in its attack on Iran's Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, which is built deep into a mountain, a US official said. That official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
The 30,000-pound bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to penetrate underground and then explode. Saturday's strikes were the first time it has been used in combat.
US submarines also participated in the attacks in Iran, launching about 30 Tomahawk land attack missiles, according to another US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. AP
Iran says 'no signs of contamination' after US strikes nuclear facilities
June 22, 2025 9:38 am
Dubai: Iran said early on Sunday there were “no signs of contamination” at its nuclear sites at Isfahan, Fordo and Natanz after US airstrikes targeted the facilities.
Iranian state media quoted the country's National Nuclear Safety System Centre, which published a statement saying its radiation detectors had recorded no radioactive release after the strikes.
“There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,” the statement added. AP
No radioactive traces detected in environment: Saudi nuclear regulator
June 22, 2025 8:39 am
Saudi nuclear regulator: No radioactive traces detected in the environment of the kingdom or Arab gulf states as a result of US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. Reuters
Trump wins immediate praise from Republicans in Congress after announcing strikes on Iran
June 22, 2025 8:32 am
Washington: Congressional Republicans — and at least one Democrat — immediately praised President Donald Trump after he said on Saturday evening that the US military bombed three sites in Iran. AP
Iran's nuclear agency confirms strikes on atomic sites
June 22, 2025 8:29 am
Dubai: Iran's nuclear agency on Sunday confirmed attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz atomic sites, but is insisting its work will not be stopped.
The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran issued the statement after President Donald Trump announced the American attack on the facilities.
“The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran assures the great Iranian nation that despite the evil conspiracies of its enemies, with the efforts of thousands of its revolutionary and motivated scientists and experts, it will not allow the development of this national industry, which is the result of the blood of nuclear martyrs, to be stopped,” it said in its statement. AP
Trump says Iran's key nuclear sites 'completely and fully obliterated' by US strikes
June 22, 2025 8:26 am
Washington: President Donald Trump says Iran's key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated” by US strikes.
Trump made the comments at the White House on Saturday night hours after announcing the US military had carried out strikes against three key nuclear facilities in Iran.
The president also warned Tehran against carrying out retaliatory attacks against the US, saying Iran has choice between “peace or tragedy". AP
UN condemns US strikes on Iran
June 22, 2025 8:24 am
United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was “gravely alarmed” by the “dangerous escalation” of American bombers attacking nuclear sites in Iran.
“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control - with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said in a statement.
He said that “at this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos” and called for further diplomacy. AP
Trump says he worked 'as a team' with Israel's prime minister to strike Iran
June 22, 2025 8:22 am
Washington: US President Donald Trump said he worked “as a team” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran, saying the collaboration was “perhaps” like “no team has worked before”. But Trump also noted that no military in the world except for that of the US could have pulled off the attack. AP
Iran's nuclear program threatened our very existence: Netanyahu
June 22, 2025 8:18 am
Israel's Netanyahu: Iran's nuclear program threatened our very existence and endangered world peace. Reuters
Top News