President Donald Trump said the United States has “completed” its attack on three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday and will address the nation at 10 p.m. from the White House.
Six 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs were dropped on the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, according to Fox News’s Sean Hannity, who spoke with Trump after the strike, and 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities by U.S. submarines. All three sites were reported to be destroyed.
“I will be giving an Address to the Nation at 10:00 p.m., at the White House, regarding our very successful military operation in Iran. 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!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump made his initial announcement of the attack, which marks the U.S.’s entrance into the war between Israel and Iran that began over a week ago, in a post on Truth Social.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. 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. 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,” the president said.
Trump said Thursday that he would decide whether to get involved in Israel’s war with Iran within two weeks. Saturday morning, six B-2 stealth bombers from Missouri were reported to be flying toward the Pacific. The bombers are the only planes that can carry GBU-57, or bunker-buster, bombs.
Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before carrying out the strikes on Iran, according to a senior White House aide. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was also briefed before the strike.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was not briefed about the plans to strike Iran’s nuclear facility, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to the Washington Examiner. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN he was not briefed. However, the outlet reported that other Republican members of the Gang of Eight were informed.
Not much is known about the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, though a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency declared Iran was found to be conducting secretive nuclear activity, including ramping up enriched uranium production to 60% at the facility.
The Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday that it “eliminated” Saeed Izadi and Behnam Shahriyari, two commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s special operations Quds Force, in addition to one other general who has not yet been named.
“Izadi was responsible for military coordination between the senior commanders of the IRGC and the Iranian regime with key figures in the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF said.
Since Israel launched strikes against Iran last week, Iran has reported over 400 deaths and Israel 24.
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Christian Datoc and Rachel Schilke contributed to this report.
