The mission was carried out with high-level secrecy, involving decoy maneuvers and precision-guided airpower. Based on Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Pressure Gen Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, the operation used superior B-2 stealth bombers.
In a high-stakes escalation within the Center East, the US carried out an airstrike operation codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, focusing on three of Iran’s main nuclear services, Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. The Pentagon mentioned the mission aimed to considerably degrade Iran’s nuclear capabilities with out scary broader battle, and reiterated that regime change was not the purpose.
The mission was carried out with high-level secrecy, involving decoy maneuvers and precision-guided airpower. Based on Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Pressure Gen Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, the operation used superior B-2 stealth bombers and Large Ordnance Penetrators to destroy the nuclear infrastructure.
The operation, launched in the course of the intervening night time of Saturday and Sunday, encountered no Iranian resistance, neither from fighter jets nor surface-to-air missile programs. “Iran’s fighters didn’t fly, and it seems that Iran’s surface-to-air missile programs didn’t see us,” mentioned Gen Caine.
Operation Midnight Hammer: Swift, exact strikes on Iran’s nuclear websites
Based on Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine, seven B‑2s flew covertly from Missouri, supported by escort jets and tankers in the course of the 18-hour mission, dropping 14 Large Ordnance Penetrators (bunker busters), whereas over two dozen Tomahawks struck Isfahan. Preliminary harm assessments confirmed “extraordinarily extreme” destruction of the focused enriched uranium websites.
Deception and precision: How the mission unfolded
Pentagon planners deployed a misleading technique to make sure success. On the eve of the operation, decoy B-2 flights from Missouri created confusion, permitting the actual strike package deal to enter Iran unnoticed. The B-2s remained radio-silent and flew at excessive altitude, protected by fighter jets that preemptively suppressed air defenses, enabling the bombers to exit safely with out encountering Iranian resistance.
Extreme harm to Iran’s nuclear services
Preliminary assessments recommend that each one three focused websites sustained “extraordinarily extreme harm and destruction.” Whereas full battle harm evaluation will take time, Pentagon officers mentioned the target of severely degrading Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure had been achieved.
US indicators diplomacy nonetheless attainable
Vice President JD Vance emphasised that the strikes provide Iran an opportunity for a “reset” in negotiations. “In the event that they’re prepared to desert their nuclear ambitions, they’ll discover a prepared accomplice in the US,” he mentioned on NBC’s Meet the Press. He added the strikes had seemingly pushed again Iran’s nuclear program “by many, a few years.”
President Donald Trump reportedly authorised the strikes after concluding Iran was not negotiating in good religion. Defence Secretary Hegseth echoed this, stating, “When Trump says 60 days of negotiation, he means it. If not, motion will observe.”
World response and diplomatic fallout
Iran has vowed retaliation. International Minister Abbas Araghchi declared that the US had crossed a “very massive purple line” and mentioned diplomacy was not a viable path, calling the assaults a “blatant violation of worldwide legislation.”
Araghchi is now in Moscow for talks with President Putin. Each Russia and China have condemned the US actions, whereas Turkey warned the battle may escalate to a worldwide degree.
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