Israel–Iran War: United States launches strike on three Iranian nuclear sites

The United States has entered the ongoing Israel and Iran war by striking Iran just two days after President Donald Trump claimed that they will wait for two weeks to see if Iran will surrender. President Trump backed up the strike on Iran by confirming that they have carried out a “successful” bombing attack on Iran’s three nuclear sites and they have been destroyed. 

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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2025

Israel says they were in full co-coordination with the United States in planning the strikes that struck Iran’s nuclear facilities. Although Iranian officials have also confirmed that their facilities were struck but they have denied that the attacked facilities have suffered a major blow. 

The full scale of the damage to the facilities is still unknown but the U.S. targeted and hit Fordo, a uranium enrichment plant hidden in a remote mountainside south of Tehran, it is believed to be deeper underground than the Channel Tunnel connecting the UK and France and is vital to Iran's nuclear ambitions. The U.S. also did hit Natanz and Isfahan which are also nuclear sites. 

According to experts, because of the depth of Fordo the bombs used by the U.S. are known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), "bunker buster" bombs which are the only bombs  big enough to destroy the site. with the weight of 13,000kg (30,000lb) it is able to penetrate about 18m (60ft) of concrete or 61m (200ft) of earth before exploding. Although it is not guaranteed they will be successful because of Fordo’s tunnels, they are the only bombs that can come close. 

Iran says that the strikes were a barbaric violation to international law, and Iran is still reserving all options to defend its sovereignty and the strike by the U.S. will have everlasting consequences. The Deputy political Director of Iran's state broadcaster, Hassan Abedini, reported that the bombed nuclear sites were evacuated a while ago, due to which the sites did not suffer a major damage as all the materials were already taken out. 

President Trump during his address said that the nuclear enrichment facilities were completely obliterated, he proceeded to congratulate Israeli’s military, U.S. military and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for aiding in carrying out the attack. The former US assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs Mark Kimmitt took a measured tone and said there was no suggestion that the facilities were destroyed for all time. 

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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2025

Both Saudi Arabia and the UN's nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say there has been no increase in radiation levels after the attack. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has called an emergency meeting of the organization's board of governors on Monday.