The US strikes on Iran’s key nuclear amenities inflicted “extraordinarily extreme harm and destruction”, the chairman of the joint chiefs of employees Dan Caine mentioned, including that Washington had used decoy planes to shock Tehran.
In a briefing with defence secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday, Caine mentioned the US had employed “a number of deception ways” together with shifting some B-2 bombers to the Pacific Ocean to misdirect Iran earlier than launching the strikes from totally different plane.
Hegseth added that “all of our precision munitions struck the place we wished them to strike and had the specified impact” in focusing on the nuclear websites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
He mentioned that on the underground web site at Fordow, which was Washington’s “major goal”, “we imagine we achieved destruction of capabilities”.
Vice-president JD Vance claimed the US had “destroyed the Iranian nuclear programme”, although a prime Pentagon official mentioned a full harm evaluation was nonetheless beneath approach.
Operation Midnight Hammer, because the assault was dubbed, marked the primary use of the GBU-57 Large Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) “bunker-buster” bombs in battle.
Seven B-2 bombers carried out the strikes, dropping a complete of 14 MOPs on Fordow and Natanz, Caine mentioned. Isfahan was hit with greater than two dozen Tomahawk missiles fired from a US submarine.
Caine added that the US planes appeared to have gone undetected by Iran’s air defences.
The strikes deepen the battle within the Center East, which has been in turmoil since Hamas’s assault on Israel in 2023. They arrive simply over every week after Israel launched missiles at Iran and Tehran hit again by putting targets in Israel.
Vance instructed NBC on Sunday: “We’re not at conflict with Iran. We’re at conflict with Iran’s nuclear programme . . . We now have no real interest in a protracted battle.”
Hegseth mentioned the assaults “took months and weeks of positioning and preparation” to be prepared when Trump gave the order. The US president mentioned final week that he would decide concerning a strike on Iran inside a fortnight.
Hegseth added that US “doesn’t search conflict”, however mentioned: “Let me be clear, we’ll act swiftly and decisively when our individuals, our companions or our pursuits are threatened.”
Caine mentioned US forces within the Center East had been on excessive alert for any Iranian retaliation or proxy assaults. “We are going to defend ourselves,” he mentioned.
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