Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. bombing of Iran “devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” concluding that the Tehran regime’s nuclear ambitions “have been obliterated.”
His comments were based on initial assessments of the damage from the surprise attack, announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday evening.
“Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and none could, until President Trump,” Hegseth said at a press conference on Sunday.
He said that Trump was “fully committed to the peace process, wanted a negotiated outcome, gave Iran every single opportunity and unfortunately it was met by stonewalling, which is why he gave planty of time for them to come to the table and give up enrichment, and give up the nuclear program.”
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the strikes was a “highly classified mission withg very few in Washington knowing the timing or nature of this plan.” He said that part of the package of B-2 bombers proceeded to the west as a decoy. The main strike package, with seven B-2 spirit bombers, proceeded to the east, and 18-hour flight with multiple in-air refuelings.
At 5 p.m. ET, a U.S. submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against surface infrastructure targets. Between 6:40 p.m. ET and 7:05 p.m. ET, all three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck, he said, adding that they were “unaware of any shots fired at the package on the way out.” A total of 14 so-called “bunker-buster” bombs were dropped, and more than 125 aircraft participated in the mission.
“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears Iran’s surface-to-air missile systems did not see us,” he said. “Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise.”
Caine said that the “final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, wrote on social media Sunday, “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior. In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”
“Last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy. This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy. What conclusion would you draw? To Britain and the EU High Rep, it is Iran which must ‘return’ to the table. But how can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?”
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