U.S. Strikes 3 Iranian Nuclear Facilities

The United States launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump said Saturday evening.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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 plans to address the nation at 10 p.m. ET.

In a follow-up post, Mr. Trump wrote: “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISTAEL (sic), AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”

Iran has pledged to retaliate if the U.S. joined the Israeli assault, which began with airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites and military targets on June 13. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israeli cities.

Israel was alerted that the bombs were going to be dropped at some point before the strikes happened, the NY Times reported, and President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu afterward, according to a person with knowledge of the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential intelligence, said that multiple 30,000-pound bunker bombs were dropped on Fordo and that initial damage assessments indicated that the facility had been “taken off the table,” the NY Times reported.