"Completely and totally obliterated", says US President Trump after bombing Iran nuke sites
Trump's announcement comes just two days after saying he had opened a two-week window for diplomacy.
"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," Trump said in remarks from the White House. "Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," he said.
Hours earlier, taking to his Truth Social platform, Trump said that the US had bombed the three Iranian nuclear facilities and in his address from the White House on Saturday night (local time), Trump said those facilities "have been completely and totally obliterated" thereby meeting the objective to stop the "nuclear threat".
After his remarks at the White House. Trump in his Truth Social post warned that any retaliation from Iran would be met with "force far greater than what was witnessed tonight."
"This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days," Trump said. "Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill."
US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth were present when Trump made his on-camera remarks from The White House.
"A short time ago the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime- Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise."
He added, "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. Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success."
The US President said, "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."
Terming Iran as the "Bully of Middle East", he said that the country must make peace, and if it doesn't, the "future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier."
"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," Trump had stated on his platform, Truth Social.
"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," he added.
The underground site at Fordow and the larger Natanz plant were Iran's two primary uranium enrichment facilities, out of which Natanz had already been hit by Israel with smaller weapons earlier in the week, the New York Times reported.
The conflict between Israel and Iran entered its ninth day on Saturday, with the US now joining in support of Israel. The conflict started after Israel, on June 13, launched a massive airstrike on Iranian military and nuclear sites, dubbed "Operation Rising Lion."
In response, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a large-scale drone and missile operation, 'Operation True Promise 3', targeting Israeli fighter jet fuel production facilities and energy supply centres.
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