US President Donald Trump announced in the early hours of Sunday, June 22 (Saturday evening in Washington), that the United States has officially joined the war between Israel and Iran, by striking three nuclear sites across Iran.
“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. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Early on Saturday, June 21, the New York Times reported that several B-2 bombers of the US Air Force were flying from the West Coast of the United States towards the Pacific. The B-2 bombers are the only aircrafts that are equipped to carry the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs that the Trump administration had previously floated using against Iran’s underground nuclear sites. The report noted that the flight was happening as Trump was meeting with his National Security Team to discuss next moves against Iran.
Following the launch of the US attacks against Iran, a senior Defense Department official told US news network CBS that the US-manufactured GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), were used in the strike, “with two MOPs used per target.”
The extent of the damage to the targeted Iranian nuclear facilities has not been reported yet, and Iran has not issued any official statement regarding the US airstrikes. However, preliminary reports from Iranian TV indicated that the three sites had been evacuated earlier in the day.
US attacks met with widespread condemnation
“This attack constitutes an illegal, unjustifiable and extremely dangerous act of aggression,” said the Venezuelan government in a statement. The Bolivarian Republic called the airstrikes a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, and the principle of national sovereignty.
“We reaffirm our solidarity with the Iranian people and our commitment to peace, sovereignty, and the defense of international law as the only path to coexistence amongst nations.”
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on X, “We strongly condemn the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. Aggression seriously violates the UN Charter and international law and plunges humanity into a crisis with irreversible consequences.”
Claudia De la Cruz, former US presidential candidate and director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), posted, “Talking about dropping bombs while declaring ‘now is the time for peace’ is like setting a house on fire and calling it renovation. The US – Israel bombing Iran are not acts for the sake of ‘security,’ they are acts of aggression that seek to expand U.S. control over the region. Remember Afghanistan. Iraq. They lie and people die. War is a rich man’s business.”
Trump threatens Iran with further aggression
In a press conference shortly after the US airstrikes, Trump described Iran as “the bully of the Middle East”. He “thanked and congratulated” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for collaborating so closely “as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before”.
“We’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel,” the US president said, as he threatened Iran with “far greater tragedy” while demanding peace from the West Asian nation.
“Remember there are many targets left.”
