US hits Iran nuclear sites

US President Donald Trump says American warplanes have bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing war between Iran and Israel.

“Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal,” the President said in a brief televised address.

“But if peace doesn’t come quickly we will go to those other targets with precision, speed and skill.”

One of the targets was Fordo, a uranium enrichment plant hidden in a remote mountainside that is vital to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Israeli officials say they are in “full co-ordination” with the US in planning these strikes.

The US contacted Iran through diplomatic channels on Saturday to say the air strikes were all it intended to do and that “regime change efforts” were “not planned”.

Iran could respond by targeting US military assets in the region.

Its officials had earlier warned that any US attack risked a regional war and they would retaliate. – BBC

13 000kg bomb used in attack

The US says it hit three nuclear sites at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

Fordo is hidden away in a mountainside south of Tehran, and is believed to be deeper underground than the Channel Tunnel connecting the UK and France.

Fordo’s depth below the Earth’s surface has made it difficult to reach with Israel’s weaponry.

Only the US was considered to have a “bunker buster” bomb strong and large enough to destroy Fordo.

That American bomb is called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).

It weighs 13 000kg and is able to penetrate about 18m of concrete or 61m of earth before exploding, according to experts.

Fordo tunnels are thought to be 80m to 90m below the surface, so the MOP is not guaranteed to be successful, but it is the only bomb that could come close.

US media reports say MOPs were used in the strikes.

Impact of the strike

It is not yet clear what damage the US attack has had on the nuclear facilities, or whether there are any injuries or casualties.

The deputy political director of Iran’s state broadcaster, Hassan Abedini, said Iran had evacuated these three nuclear sites a while ago.

Appearing on television, Abedini said Iran “didn’t suffer a major blow because the materials had already been taken out”.

But in his televised address, Trump said the “nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated”.

But speaking on the BBC News Channel, Mark Kimmitt, a former US assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, was far more circumspect.

“There’s no way to suggest that it has been destroyed for all time,” he said.

How Iran might retaliate

Iran has been weakened significantly by Israel’s attacks on its military bases so far, experts say, as well as the dismantling of its regional proxies in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Syria and Gaza (Hamas).

But Iran is still capable of doing a considerable amount of damage.

Iranian officials warned the US against getting involved, saying it would suffer “irreparable damage” and that it risked an “all-out war” in the region.

It has threatened to target US bases in the region in retaliation.

The US operates military sites across at least 19 regions in the Middle East, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran could also target the assets of nearby countries it perceives to be aiding the US, which risks the war spilling over to the entire region.

Reactions after US bombing of Iran nuclear sites

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the strikes in a post on X late Saturday, warning it could expand the conflict in the region.

“We strongly condemn the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the conflict in the Middle East,” he wrote. “This aggression gravely violates the UN Charter and international law and plunges humanity into a crisis with irreversible consequences.”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric also condemned the attack on X, writing: “We demand and need peace.”

Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned what it called “the military aggression against Iran,” in a statement.

Others called for dialogue and de-escalation.

Colombia’s foreign ministry urged all parties to resume negotiations as “the only responsible and lasting way out of the current crisis,” while Mexico’s foreign ministry wrote on X: “Restoring peaceful co-existence among the states in the region remains the highest priority.” – CNN

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