What Are the Details of the Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities?

The biggest news of the past week is an announcement by President Donald Trump that the United States had dropped bombs on three major nuclear sites in Iran. Tyler O’Neil at The Daily  Signal reported the President’s words as follows: 

U.S. Attacks Iran Nuclear Facilities

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” the president posted on Truth Social. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space.”

“A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” he added. “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,” Trump concluded.

Trump followed up this post with a note from Open Source Intel reporting that “Fordow is gone,” referring to a major Iranian nuclear development facility.

The president also announced that he will give an “Address to the Nation” at 10 p.m., regarding the “very successful military operation in Iran.”

He went on to say, “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”

O’Neil continued his article by reminding his readers that “Iran has arguably been in a state of war against the United States since the 1979 revolution, and the regime has repeatedly condemned America as the “great Satan.” However, “the bombing represents a new step in America’s stance against the Islamic Republic.

Military Gives More Details

Olivia Pero, a journalism fellow for The Daily Signal, added more information about the American attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The following information comes from a press briefing held by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine at the Pentagon early Sunday morning. Here are Hegseth’s words: 

“It was an incredible and overwhelming success,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon. “Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.”

At President Donald Trump’s directive, the U.S. Central Command executed Operation Midnight Hammer, a precision strike on “three nuclear facilities in Iran Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan” in the middle of last night. Hegseth said the mission was successful as the goal was “to destroy or severely degrade Iran’s nuclear program.”

Hegseth attributed the successful mission to “President Trump’s bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength.”

“Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program and none could … until President Trump,” Hegseth said. “The operation President planned was bold, and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back.”

Hegseth also noted that Trump has said the U.S. “does not seek war.”

“Let's be clear: We will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners, or our interests are threatened,” Hegseth said. “Iran should listen to the president of the United States and know that he means it. Every word.”

Hegseth described last night’s mission as “historic.”

“Without the world knowing at all,” the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers traveled in and out of the nuclear sites, without a single shot fired at them. Last night’s strikes included “the longest B-2 Spirit Bomber mission since 2001” as well as the first time using a Massive Ordnance Penetrator, according to Hegseth. The MOP is a new “weapon system” made to destroy nuclear weapons situated in highly protected facilities, the Air Force states in its website. Twelve GPU-57 bunker-busters were used in the attack.

General Caine gave more explanations and details about the strikes. He began by stating that it “was a highly classified mission with very few people in Washington knowing the timing or nature of this plan.”

“At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States,” Cain explained. “As part of the plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy.”

Caine said the strike package consisted of seven B-2 Spirit Bombers, each containing two crew members who “quietly” moved to the east “with minimal communications.”

“Throughout the 18-hour flight into the target area, the aircraft completed multiple in-flight refuelings,” Caine said. “Once over land, the B-2s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex, tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done with minimal communications.”

Just before the bombers entered Iran, a U.S. submarine launched over two dozen “Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Isfahan,” Caine detailed.

 Pero concluded her article by quoting Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation. He supported Trump’s decision for the U.S. military to strike in Iran. However, he is not interested in this attack culminating “in another regime-change quagmire,” … “nation building or a broader conflict.” Nevertheless, the world is “closer to peace” once “Iran’s self-defeating dreams of nuclear military power have been decimated.”

Rubio Wants Direct Talks with Iran

In another article published at The Daily Signal, Pero reported on comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday morning. 

“If they attack us, then I think we have capabilities they haven’t even seen yet. It would be a terrible mistake on their part,” Rubio told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Rubio said Iran can have civil nuclear programs like other countries around the world, but it will continue to have problems, both with the U.S. and “many other countries in the world,” if it wants “some secret program” that “looks a lot like you’re trying to build a bomb.”

While the U.S. is no longer part of The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – also known as the Iran nuclear deal – Germany, France, and Britain are, Rubio said, and Iran is in complete violation of the existing sanctions.

“I think the Europeans, particularly the Germans, the French, and the Brits have made it very clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons,” Rubio said.

Those three countries must decide by no later than this October whether to reinstate the sanctions on Iran, he said. “We encourage them to continue to press them on that front because that’s another set of pressure.”

When it comes to other countries in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, Rubio said the U.S. works “very cooperatively with them.”

“The only reason we have U.S. bases in the region … is because they are afraid that Iran will attack them, and they want us there to help defend them,” Rubio said. “These countries fully recognize the threat that Iran poses.”

Additionally, Iran needs to start talking directly to the U.S. Said Rubio, “We always have to have a middleman – they want to pass messages and notes like we’re in third grade – we’re not doing that anymore.”