Donald Trump announced a significant military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities on Tuesday evening, marking a dramatic escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions. The announcement came via his Truth Social account at 7:50 p.m. ET, where he revealed that American B-2 bombers had executed the strikes using a powerful 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bomb.
In his post, Trump claimed that the attacks “total obliterated” large nuclear facilities. These sites are Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Unfortunately, this egregious attack has left many people in Iran seriously injured. According to an after-action report, two people were in serious condition, 77 were injured with non-serious symptoms and four people suffered from anxiety attacks.
Iranian officials were quick to downplay both the effectiveness of the U.S. strikes. In his remarks on the damage, or lack thereof, Iranian lawmaker Manan Raeisi described the attack on Fordow as “very superficial.” Through the lens of prevention Mr. Jones claimed that the damage was limited to the facility’s entrance and exit tunnels. It certainly didn’t affect their bottom line.
“Based on precise information, I am able to state that contrary to the claims of the lying president of the United States, the Fordow nuclear installation has not been seriously damaged. Most of the affected areas were above ground and can be fully restored.” – Manan Raeisi
Following the attacks, Trump took to Twitter to threaten Iran with a “very harsh” retaliation. Simply put, he promised Tehran that it “needs to make peace today” or find a stronger US military response to even more targets tomorrow. He announced that any Iranian retaliation should be expected to be met with overwhelming force.
In response to the U.S. assassination, Iran countered by sending a new salvo of missiles in Israel’s direction. This last move led Israel to launch airstrikes on western Iran on Saturday, its first military strike in the region since the U.S. strikes themselves.
In response, Tehran’s government called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council for condemnation of U.S. actions. The Iraqi federal government similarly condemned the strikes, voicing fears that they could undermine regional stability.
“This military escalation constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East and poses serious risks to regional stability.” – Basim Alawadi, Iraqi government spokesperson
Luckily, many smart analysts and observers have shared their views on how we got here. This would imply that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei now has a stark choice on how to react to U.S. moves. Former State Department Middle East hand and current CNN analyst Aaron David Miller hit home on this point, arguing Khamenei only understands threat and will respond. As CNN’s political analyst Barak Ravid reminded us, that’s significant. Retaliation is unacceptable. Iran has made it clear time and again that it will respond to any aggression from the U.S.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry released its own statement condemning the U.S. for, as it called it, a betrayal of diplomacy. They reaffirmed that they stand ready to respond to any threats against their national security.
“The world must not forget that it was the United States that, in the midst of a diplomatic process, betrayed diplomacy.” – Iran’s Foreign Ministry
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Iran to engage in dialogue. He agrees that continuing to talk is the most important step towards peacefully ending the crisis. He reminded listeners again that Iran must never be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons. He supported U.S. actions specifically aimed at reducing said threat.
“We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.” – Keir Starmer
“Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat.” – Keir Starmer
