Donald Trump said the United States had struck three nuclear sites in Iran, joining Israel’s attacks on the country and attracting America to another war in the Middle East.
The president said that the American planes had abandoned the bombs on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan in order to deactivate the nuclear enrichment capacity of the Islamic Republic and to put its alleged prosecution of an atomic weapon.
“Tonight, I can report to the world that strikes were a spectacular military success. The main nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran were completely and completely erased,” Trump told the end of night at the nation.
Trump said Iran now needed to “make peace” and threatened more intense attacks on the Islamic Republic if it was not the case.
“Future attacks would be much larger and easier,” said Trump.
“It cannot continue. There will be neither peace, there will be a tragedy for Iran much greater than what we have witnessed in the past eight days. Remember that there are many targets. ”
Trump’s decision to strike Iran increases the conflict The Middle Eastwhich has been swirled since the attack on Hamas against Israel in 2023. It comes a little more than a week after the launch of Israel in Iran and Tehran struck by hitting targets in Israel.
The attack leads to the risk of Iranian reprisals against the United States, in particular on the military and ships in the region, as well as a potential disruption of oil supplies in the world’s largest energy production region.
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of having committed “a serious violation of the United Nations Charter”. “This morning’s events are scandalous and will have eternal consequences,” he wrote.
“Iran reserves all the options to defend its sovereignty, its interest and its people,” added Araghchi.
In a letter to the UN Secretary General, Iran also called for an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s “daring decision”, saying that the United States against Iran “would change history.”
“In this evening action against Iran’s nuclear installations, America was really unrivaled. He did what no other country on Earth could do,” he said.
But the Israeli authorities have also taken defensive measures, completely closing the airspace and putting the inner front on the “essential” activity, in a sign that Iranian reprisals were expected. The two restrictions had been partially lifted in recent days.
The American attacks mark a major turning point for Trump, who campaigned for his second term on a commitment to be a peaceful craftsman who ended “Forever Wars”.
It is a political bet for the president, whose Maga base is divided between the hawks and those who believe that the United States should remain outside foreign conflicts.
Announcing attacks earlier on Saturday on his Truth social platform, Trump said that the planes had abandoned “a complete payload of bombs” on FordowAnd were all safe on the way back.
Iranian officials confirmed the strike on three nuclear sites, according to state media.
The American bunker-business bombs carried by the B-2 were considered the best chance of destroying the enrichment installation of Iranian uranium in Fordow, which is buried deep under a mountain.
The bombing raid comes after two decades of debate in the United States on the advisability of attacking Iran, and seven years after Trump took out his country from a nuclear pact with Tehran agreed by President Barack Obama.
Trump said on Saturday that he had discussed attacks with Netanyahu, who urged the United States to attack Iranian nuclear sites for years.
“We have worked like a team like perhaps that no team has never worked before, and we have greatly contributed to erasing this horrible threat to Israel,” said Trump.
The Iranian advisor to the president of the Parliament said that Tehran provided an attack on Fordow.
“From the point of view of Iran, nothing too strange has happened,” wrote Mahdi Mohammadi on X.
“For several nights, Iran has been waiting for an attack on Fordow. The site has been evacuated for some time now and has not faced irreversible damage from the attack.”
After initially seemed to be distant from the conflict, Trump has deliberated in recent days on the opportunity to involve the American army in the efforts of Israel to dismantle the nuclear program of Iran.
Thursday, he seemed to offer Iran a two -week window To achieve a diplomatic solution.
Joseph Votel, a retired general who led the American central command, who oversees the American forces in the Middle East, said that Trump and his team were committed to an effort to hide the time of the attack, including the calendar of the two-week president.
“It is quite clear that there was a disappointment plan in place,” said Votel who was commander of Centcom for two years of the first term of Trump.
Earlier on Saturday, B-2 stealth bombers seemed to go to Guam since their base in Missouri. It was not clear if these bombers had carried out the attacks on Iran or if bombers were deployed by Diego Garcia.
The hawks of republican foreign policy at the Congress applauded the president’s military decision. US senator Lindsey Graham said “it was the right call” while senator Jim Risch, president of the Senate’s foreign relations, supported Trump’s “decisive action” to help Israel.
But some president of the president said that he had exceeded his constitutional authority.
Additional reports by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv
