Sunday June 22, 2025|
By Idorenyin UMOREN
The United States, US, struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, June 22, inserting itself into Israel ’s war aimed at destroying the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe despite fears of a wider regional conflict, according to AP reports.
Addressing the nation from the White House, President Donald Trump asserted that Iran’s key nuclear were “completely and fully obliterated.” There was no independent damage assessment.
It was not clear whether the U.S. would continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a nine-day war with Iran. Trump warned Iran that any reprisals against the US would be met with additional strikes.
“There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,” he said.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed that attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but it insisted that its work will not be stopped.
The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that aimed to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers , B-2 Spirit and the 30,000-pound (13,500-kilogram) bunker-buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program 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. “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.”
President Trump added in a later post: “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!”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Trump’s decision to attack in a video message directed at 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 U.S. “has done what no other country on earth could do.”
Associated Press reports that Israel announced Sunday, June 22, that it would close the country’s airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the U.S. attacks.
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation. US military leaders are scheduled to provide a briefing at 8 a.m. Eastern.
The attack used bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant that is built deep into a mountain, a US official said. The weapons are designed to penetrate the ground before exploding. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
In addition, United States, US submarines launched about 30 Tomahawk missiles, according to another US official who also spoke on condition of anonymity, AP reports.
The strikes are a perilous decision, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if the U.S. joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally. He won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism.
