Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations | Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by John McDonnell/Getty Images)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe in the Situation Room on June 21, 2025. (Courtesy of the White House)US Has Struck 3 Iranian Nuclear Sites: Trump
U.S. warplanes dropped bombs on Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility and two other Iranian nuclear facilities on June 21, President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.
The president said the U.S. aircraft have already exited Iranian airspace and are now returning home.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump’s statement reads.
Israeli aircraft first began striking Iran on June 13, as part of an operation to halt Iran’s nuclear program and defang its offensive military capabilities.
The uranium enrichment facility at Fordow had been one of the top targets remaining in Israel’s ongoing campaign of air strikes on Iran. The facility is heavily fortified, buried hundreds of feet underground in a mountainous area of Iran.
“Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this,” he added.
The strikes came just hours after reports emerged that U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers had departed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, heading west.
Trump did not immediately specify exactly what types of U.S. aircraft were involved in the strikes. However, the B-2 is the only aircraft equipped to carry and deploy a 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb known as the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator that can reach Fordow.
Trump spoke with Fox News host Sean Hannity following the strike and, according to Hannity, described B-2 bombers dropping five or six heavy bunker-busting bombs on Fordow.
According to Hannity, the president also described U.S. submarines located some 400 miles away, launching a salvo of 30 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles at Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan.
While Trump had voiced support for the Israeli operation and said that Iran must not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon, he had avoided directly involving the U.S. military in the burgeoning Middle East flash point for more than a week.
On June 19, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would decide within the next two weeks whether the United States would join in military action against Iran.
“I have a message directly from the president, and I quote: ‘Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,’” Leavitt said at a White House press briefing.
By Ryan Morgan
The Associated Press contributed.
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