Trump says Iran’s key nuclear sites ‘obliterated’ by US airstrikes
WASHINGTON ( WEB NEWS )
U.S. forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites, President Donald Trump said late on Saturday, and he warned Tehran it would face more devastating attacks if it does not agree to peace.
After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign against its major rival Iran is a major escalation of the conflict and risks opening a new era of instability in the Middle East.
“The strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump said in a televised address. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
In a speech that lasted just over three minutes, Trump said Iran’s future held “either peace or tragedy,” and there were many other targets that could be hit by the U.S. military.
“If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.”
The U.S. reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the U.S. plans and it does not aim for regime change, CBS News reported.
Trump said U.S. forces struck Iran’s three principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity show that six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites.
U.S. B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Fordow is gone.”
Reuters had reported earlier on Saturday the movement of the B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry massive bombs that experts say would be needed to strike Fordow, which is buried beneath a mountain south of Tehran. Given its fortification, it will likely be days, if not longer, before the impact of the strikes is known.
An Iranian official, cited by Tasnim news agency, confirmed part of the Fordow site was attacked by “enemy airstrikes.”
However, Mohammad Manan Raisi, a lawmaker for Qom, near Fordow, told the semi-official Fars news agency the facility had not been seriously damaged.
Iranian media quoted Iran’s nuclear body as saying there were no signs of contamination after the attacks, and no danger to residents living nearby.
Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran’s state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites some time ago.
“The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots,” he told the channel.