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Live Updates: Trump Claims Success After Bombing Key Iran Nuclear Sites
After hitting Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear installation, President Trump warned of more strikes “if peace does not come quickly.” Iranian ballistic missiles wounded at least 10 in Israel, officials said.
Trump and Netanyahu Praise U.S. Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Sites
President Trump said the aim of attacking the three facilities was to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability. Iran said the sites had been hit but did not immediately describe the damage.
“Thank you very much. A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.” “America has been truly unsurpassed. It has done what no other country on Earth could do. History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons.” “God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel. And God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.”
American warplanes and submarines attacked three key nuclear sites in Iran early Sunday, bringing the U.S. military directly into Israel’s war and prompting fears that the strikes could lead to more dangerous escalations across the Middle East.
President Trump said the objective of the strikes “was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror.” He claimed success, saying in a televised address from the White House that the nuclear facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s allies and his opponents welcomed President Trump’s decision to launch the attack. Trump “wrote his name tonight in golden letters in the history books,” waxed Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition and a committed Netanyahu critic, said in a radio interview: “It was the right and correct thing for Israel, Israeli security and global security. It’s a good moment.” But Lapid also added that Israel should now aim to wrap up the war with Iran, saying that its “main objectives had been achieved.”
Israel has begun a series of strikes on military targets in western Iran, its military said on social media.
Where the U.S. attacked Iran
Israeli paramedics now say 16 people were wounded in the Iranian missile attack. Israel’s public broadcaster is playing footage from one of the impact sites, showing a multi-story building hollowed out by an explosion on a street full of rubble.
A rescue worker evacuating children from a site in Haifa, Israel, after Iran launched missiles.
Authorities reported several impact sites across Israel during the last Iranian rocket barrage, likely the result of either Iranian missiles evading Israel’s air defenses or falling shrapnel. In images published by Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, buildings and cars wrecked in the attack can be seen amid smoke. The municipality of Haifa, the country’s third-largest city, said officials were heading to an impact site.
At least 10 people were wounded in the most recent Iranian ballistic missile barrage to Israel, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service. Police said officers were responding to multiple impact sites across central Israel.
Following warnings of incoming Iranian ballistic fire, the authorities in Israel said that search and rescue crews were operating in several locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported. The national emergency services agency posted footage of a destroyed apartment block.
The UN nuclear watchdog said it has not detected any increase in off-site radiation levels at the three Iranian nuclear sites following the U.S. attack. The International Atomic Energy Agencysaid it is continuing to assess the situation and will provide further updates.
The Israeli miliatary said on Telegram that it is doing search and rescue operations in several locations where missiles were reported. It did not name where it was working. The nation’s ambulance service said the same in separate statement.
Following the U.S. attack on Iran, South Korea’s top security officials huddled on Sunday to discuss its potential impact on the country’s security and economy, said Kang Yu-jung, a spokeswoman for President Lee Jae Myung. South Korea is an American ally while North Korea last week accused Washington of “fanning up the flames of war” in the Middle East.
Iranians are waking up to news of the strikes, saying on social media that they worry about what will happen to their country and expressing concern about potential radioactive leaks at the three nuclear sites that were bombed. Iranian officials said on Sunday that the attacks posed no risk to public health.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei would typically be expected to issue a statement or address the nation on live television during extraordinary circumstances. But Mr. Khamenei is in a bunker, all his electronic communication has been suspended to protect him against assassinations and communication with him is limited and difficult. Until he speaks, Iran’s definitive response to U.S. strikes on nuclear sites is not clear.
Air-raid sirens are ringing out in northern and central Israel, warning of incoming Iranian ballistic missile fire.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reacts to U.S. attacks on Iran in a post on social media that Iran had a legitimate right to respond to U.S. attacks on its nuclear facilities and warned, “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.” He accused the U.S. of violating the U.N. charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran’s nuclear sites. “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior.
Israelis are waking up to the news that President Trump had decided to launch attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites. Many here hope American involvement brings the war — which has sent Israelis fleeing for reinforced bomb shelters multiple times a day under threat of ballistic missile attacks — to a quick end. But the next steps in the spiraling conflict are far from clear. The Israeli military has ordered schools and most workplaces to remain closed for the immediate future as the country braces for further Iranian retaliation.
Farnaz Fassihi has lived and worked in Iran, has covered the country for three decades and was a war correspondent in the Middle East for 15 years.
Iran’s clerical rulers have a long history of open animosity toward the United States.
From vowing “Death to America” to striking an American base in Iraq after the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top general, the Iranian government has repeatedly gone to the brink of direct military confrontation with the United States, only to pull back.
Saturday’s strikes marked the first time the U.S. Air Force had ever used the 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator in combat.
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said, “This was a massive gamble by President Trump, and nobody knows yet whether it will pay off.” He added: “It’s easier to start wars than end them.”
Both the New York Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C., said they were sending more officers to religious institutions and other sites across each city after the U.S. attacked Iran.
The B-2’s that struck the Iranian nuclear sites early Sunday flew non-stop for about 37 hours from their base in Missouri, refueling several times mid-air, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity, given the sensitive nature of the information.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, said the Trump administration had not briefed Congress ahead of the strikes, calling that decision “unfortunate.”
In another pre-recorded statement released early Sunday on social media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Israeli citizens directly, telling them the U.S. strikes were carried out “in full coordination” between the American and Israeli militaries.
Netanyahu said he and President Trump spoke after the strikes.
António Guterres, the head of the U.N., said that he was gravely alarmed by the U.S. attacks on Iran. “This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security. There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” Guterres said.
Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, who has emerged as one of the few Republican critics of President Trump’s foreign policy decisions, praised his decision to strike Iran. “Seizing this opportunity is not an escalation toward war — it is a prudent response to the warmongers in Tehran,” McConnell said. “Iran would be foolish to misunderstand American resolve.”
Top Republicans in Congress swiftly rallied behind President Trump on Saturday after he ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, even as senior Democrats and some G.O.P. lawmakers condemned it as an unconstitutional move that could drag the United States into a broader war in the Middle East.
In separate statements, the leading Republicans in Congress, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, commended the military operation, calling it a necessary check on Iran’s ambitions of developing a nuclear weapon. Both men had been briefed on the military action before the strike was carried out, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Top congressional Democrats say that they received only a perfunctory alert from the White House ahead of Trump’s announcement of the air strikes with no opportunity to seek details.
U.S. commanders had said earlier this week that any strike on the heavily fortified Fordo facility would require multiple aircraft dropping several of the bunker busters to destroy the site. Still, the number of weapons involved and the deployment of submarine-fired cruise missiles at two other sites, Natanz and Isfahan, surprised some analysts.
Oil prices could fall if Iran’s nuclear weapons program has been stopped and the U.S. and its allies feel sanctions are no longer needed on Iran’s oil exports, said Muyu Xu, an Asia crude oil analyst at Kpler, a global commodities and shipping firm. Those sanctions have severely reduced Iran’s oil exports in recent years, with only China still buying large quantities of Iranian oil lately. But short term, traders will be looking to see if fighting affects Iran’s oil export capacity or on tanker traffic in and out of the Persian Gulf.
The NASA fire information system detected a significant heat-generating event near the Fordo nuclear enrichment facility, with one detection about 30 minutes before President Trump announced the U.S. strikes. Often areas that are bombed or produce significant heat, such as from lasting fires, are detected. Other events, like wildfires and industrial activity, can also be picked up; however, no recent events were detected in the last month around Fordo.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued a statement confirming that Iran’s three nuclear sites “were attacked in a violent act against international laws, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty, by the enemies of Islamic Iran.” The agency said it would take legal action against the United States in international courts and that Iran’s nuclear program would continue.
A U.S. official said that six B-2 bombers dropped a dozen 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs on the Fordo nuclear site, which lies deep underground, and Navy submarines fired 30 TLAM cruise missiles at the Natanz and Isfahan sites. One B-2 also dropped two bunker busters on Natanz, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
In a pre-recorded statement released early Sunday on social media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel congratulated President Trump for “his bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
The United States, Netanyahu said, “has done what no other country on earth could do. History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, called for President Trump’s impeachment in response to the strikes. “It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment,” she wrote in a social media post, calling the strike “disastrous” and accusing Trump of having “impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations.”
Trump says top military leaders will hold a news conference Sunday morning.
“We love you, God, and we love our great military,” Trump says.
Trump’s remarks were about four minutes long.
Trump warns that more attacks could come. “If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,” he says.
“There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight,” Trump says.
Trump says that without peace, there will be “tragedy” for Iran that will far exceed what’s taken place.
Trump is making the argument that Iran didn’t just pose a threat to Israel, but also to the United States. “For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America, death to Israel,’” he says.
After months of hesitancy, President Trump embraces Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, saying they worked closely as a team.
“I decided a long time ago that I will not let this happen,” Trump says of Iranian efforts to gain a nuclear weapon, a point on which he’s been consistent over the last decade.
“Iran, the bully of the Mideast, must now make peace,” Trump says.
“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror,” Trump says.
“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear capacity,” Trump says, calling the bombing a “spectacular” success.
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