US attack on Iran

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Trump claims US ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear sites as Tehran warns of consequences

Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog — gave an update to the UN Security Council on what has occurred at Iran’s nuclear sites following the US attack.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-22-25-intl-hnk?

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Here’s how Iran could retaliate after US strikes on its nuclear program

Iran has spent decades building multi-tiered military capabilities at home and across the region that were at least partly aimed at deterring the United States from attacking it. By entering Israel’s war, the U.S. may have removed the last rationale for holding them in reserve.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-attacks-retaliation-targets-mideast-wars-63ccbe43d83cf3cc7faf3fc4b37e6333?

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How Tampa’s CentCom was at the heart of Trump’s Iran bombing mission

Tampa was at the heart of the secret bombing campaign that hit three Iranian nuclear facilities early Saturday morning.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/06/22/how-tampas-centcom-was-at-the-heart-of-trumps-iran-bombing-mission/?

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US Strikes Iran

The US joined Israel’s military campaign against Iran Saturday, using B-2 bombers to target three nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordo. In a speech to the nation, President Donald Trump called the strikes a success, saying the military destroyed the facilities. A final assessment of the impact to Iran's nuclear program is ongoing. Watch the speech here; see images from the White House Situation Room here.   Operation Midnight Hammer began around 12 am ET Friday night, when seven B-2 bombers launched from Missouri east to Iran, with bombers also flying west as a decoy. After an 18-hour flight with minimal communication, the bombers struck Iran’s heavily fortified Fordo and Natanz facilities in the first-ever operational deployment of 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. US submarines separately launched Tomahawk missiles at an Iranian nuclear facility in Isfahan. The stealth bomber strikes took place between 6:40 pm ET and 7:05 pm ET—around 2 am local time. No shots were known to have been fired on US aircraft or personnel.   Trump suggested if Iran does not pursue peace, the US could strike further. Iran said it is reserving all options for a response and has not retaliated as of this writing. Israel said an Iranian missile barrage early Sunday wounded at least 80 people. Democratic congressional leaders have meanwhile criticized the US strikes as a dangerous escalation.   See live updates here.

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Trump's "headfake" secret order

President Trump told the world last Thursday that he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to strike Iran, Axios' Barak Ravid, Marc Caputo and Zachary Basu write.

• 48 hours later, B-2 stealth bombers were whizzing through Iranian airspace — undetected — on a mission to cripple the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

Why it matters: Trump remained open to aborting the mission if a diplomatic window emerged. But his public countdown doubled as a smokescreen — concealing a strike plan that was already in motion, according to multiple officials.

• "It was a headfake," a Trump adviser told Axios. "He knew the media couldn't resist amplifying it. He knew the Iranians might think he was bluffing. Well, everyone was wrong."

?️ The big picture: The bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities on Saturday marked the most direct and consequential U.S. military action against Iran since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979.

• Trump, who praised the operation as a "spectacular military success," came to the decision to join Israel's war after months of failed diplomacy — and one last secret effort to meet with Iranian officials last week.

Satellite images show the Fordow nuclear site before and after Saturday's strike. Images: Maxar

Between the lines: As with many moments of geopolitical drama during Trump's two terms, his aides have gone to great lengths to emphasize an image of total command and decisive leadership.

• "This wasn't a Pentagon operation. This was a Donald Trump operation," a senior administration official told Axios. "He came up with the PR. He chose the plans. He chose the day."
• "He's no Jimmy Carter," the official said, referencing the last time the U.S. tried direct military action in Iran: Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, a humiliating and failed hostage rescue mission.
• The complexity of Operation Midnight Hammer — which amounted to the largest ever B-2 strike — required meticulous planning from the Pentagon that likely stretched back years.

Behind the scenes: In the first days after Israel launched its unprecedented attack on Iran, Trump hoped a swift nuclear deal could end the war before it escalated further.

• From the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada earlier this month, he began coordinating with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to arrange a high-level meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials in Istanbul.
• Trump was prepared to send Vice President Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff — or even travel himself to meet Iran's president, if that's what it would take to reach a deal.

Screenshot: Fox News

Vance and Witkoff had even started packing their bags, but it became clear last Monday afternoon that the meeting was not going to happen, a senior U.S. official said.

• Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was in hiding over fears of assassination, couldn't be reached to authorize the talks — and constant Israeli airstrikes made it too dangerous for Iranian officials to leave the country.

On Friday afternoon, a day after suggesting the attack could be delayed, Trump gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the green light to launch the B-2 bombers.

• Several hours later, the stealth bombers departed their base in Missouri. Some flew west as decoys. The real strike group headed east toward Iran, according to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
• On Saturday afternoon, while still at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump was told the bombers were about to reach the point of no return — the moment they would go into full radio silence.

A B-2 stealth bomber involved in Operation Midnight Hammer returns to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri yesterday. Photo: David Smith/AP

The president gave the final go-ahead.

• Shortly after, Trump boarded Air Force One and flew back to Washington to be in the Situation Room as the first bombs hit their targets.
• "In the end, it was everything. The timing was right. The Ayatollah gave Trump and the U.S. the middle finger. And that came with a price," said a Trump confidant who spoke with the president in recent days.

The bottom line: Trump still wants a deal with Iran — and wanted one before the bombers took off, an adviser to the president told Axios.

• "Once the B-2s were radio silent, it was too late," the source said. "But the phones are open now."

Read the full story ... More photos of the returning bombers.

ps:I knew from the first time he said that he'd be a no war president, that that was a lie!! Also when he said 2 weeks, I thought we'll see!!!!!

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? Trump floats regime change

Via Truth Social President Trump floated the possibility of "regime change" in Iran yesterday in a post to his Truth Social account, Axios' Barak Ravid writes. "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!" the president wrote. Why it matters: This is the first time Trump has raised the possibility of regime change in Iran since Israel launched its war 10 days ago — and the U.S. joined with airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear sites on Saturday. Trump has criticized the neo-conservative faction of the Republican Party for years over their support for regime changes in Iraq, Iran and other places around the world. ? Zoom in: The president's post is a departure from the rest of his administration, which has stressed multiple times over the last several days that its goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and that the U.S. is not pushing for regime change in Iran. Vice President Vance said on NBC's "Meet The Press" yesterday that the administration's view "has been very clear that we don't want a regime change." A billboard in Tel Aviv yesterday says: "Thank you, Mr. President." Photo: Bernat Armangue/AP

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☢️ Iran's bargaining chip

Senior Trump administration officials are conceding that "they did not know the fate of Iran's stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium," The New York Times' David E. Sanger writes.

• Why it matters: "That stockpile of fuel is now one of the few nuclear bargaining chips in Iranian hands."

There's growing evidence, Sanger writes, that "the Iranians, attuned to Mr. Trump's repeated threats to take military action, had removed 400 kilograms, or roughly 880 pounds, of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity."

• "That is just below the 90 percent that is usually used in nuclear weapons."

Keep reading (gift link).

Today's headlines in The New York Times and The Times of London.

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US-Iran

As President Trump weighs the idea of regime change in Iran, the Iranian power structure appears to be more focused on how it will respond to America's attack on its nuclear facilities. The Iranian envoy to the UN condemned the US and Israel for their “acts of aggression” and asked the Security Council to address such “injustice and gross violations.” Iranian hardliners and members of parliament took to social media to call for retaliation after the US strikes, including attacks on American bases in the region, the disruption of oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz and a possible withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The attacks have also inspired thousands of Iranians to demonstrate against Trump and the US. One Iranian politician said even people critical of the regime were protesting.

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Iran launches missiles at US military base in Qatar in retaliation for American bombing

Iran launched missile attacks Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites and escalating tensions in the volatile region. U.S. officials reported no casualties. Read More.

Inside Trump's path to 'yes' on bombing Iran

For more than a week, President Donald Trump kept the world wondering whether he would join Israel’s attacks on Iran in an attempt to decapitate the country’s nuclear program. Like most of Trump’s presidency, the path to military action was unconventional and played out on social media. Read More.

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital route for oil. Closing it could backfire on Iran

The war between Israel and Iran has raised concerns that Iran could retaliate by trying to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint due to the large volumes of crude that pass through it every day. Read More.

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? What Israel's intel shows

Israeli intelligence services believe U.S. and Israeli strikes caused "very significant" damage to Iran's nuclear facilities, with some officials perplexed by a leaked U.S. intelligence report that suggested otherwise, Axios' Barak Ravid and Zachary Basu write.

• Like the U.S., Israel hasn't produced a final assessment on how far back the bombing campaign has set Iran's nuclear program, three officials told Axios.

Why it matters: The emerging Israeli assessment presents a far more optimistic view of the operation than a preliminary report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, which assessed the strikes may have set Iran back only a few months.

• President Trump's claim that Iran's nuclear program has been "obliterated" came under scrutiny yesterday after the DIA report was leaked to CNN, The New York Times, Washington Post and multiple other outlets.
• The leak infuriated the White House, which rejected the findings as "fake news" and accused anonymous officials of seeking to undermine Trump.

NEW OVERNIGHT: At the NATO summit in the Netherlands today, Trump said the "perfect operation" in Iran was "a devastating attack, and it knocked 'em for a loop." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Operation Midnight Hammer "an overwhelming success." (Video)

Image: CBS News

?️ The big picture: Israel, which initiated the war and faces a far more direct threat from Iran than the U.S., is largely satisfied with the early results from Trump's military strike on Saturday.

• "A professional battle damage assessment takes time," an Israeli official stressed, suggesting it was far too soon to draw the kinds of conclusions included in the DIA report.
• "Israeli intelligence services haven't arrived at any bottom lines for now," the official added. "But we don't think there was any bug in the operation, and we have no indications the bunker-buster bombs didn't work. Nobody here is disappointed."

Keep reading.

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US-Iran

The US military’s strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend did not destroy the core components of its nuclear program as President Donald Trump claimed, an early US intelligence assessment report showed. Instead, the attack likely only set Iran’s program back by months. Sources told CNN that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed and that its centrifuges were largely intact. On his social media site, Trump decried the CNN story and claimed the attack was “ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY. THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!” On Tuesday night, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, went on Fox News and blasted the leak of classified US0 intelligence. “It goes without saying that the leaking of that sort of information, whatever the information, whatever site it goes out on, is outrageous, it is treasonous," Witkoff said.

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Strike triggers mixed feelings

Data: The Tyson Group. Chart: Axios Visuals The U.S. attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities Saturday have left American voters with contradictory feelings, Axios' Marc Caputo writes from a new poll: A majority favored limited strikes, but nearly as many said they were worried about a widening war and Iran retaliating on U.S. soil. Most viewed the U.S. attacks as a success — and are likely to back similar military action as a result. Why it matters: The survey — conducted by the Tyson Group, a Republican polling firm — sheds light on Americans' nuanced views of war and rapidly evolving foreign policy. Republicans overwhelmingly approved of bombing Iran. Sizable majorities of Democrats and independents didn't. But once they were told the bombings only targeted Iran's uranium enrichment for its nuclear program, support increased in each group. 75% of voters in the poll think that despite the Israel-Iran ceasefire, the conflict could escalate into a wider war.

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US-Iran

The Pentagon released new details about the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend, including how the military prepared for the mission, the crews who carried out the raid and how Iran tried to fortify one of the sites in advance of the bombing. However, Thursday’s briefing did not provide new intelligence supporting President Donald Trump’s assertion that the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. Both Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referred questions about that to the intelligence agencies. Until all of the intel is gathered, the full extent of damage at the facilities remains unclear.