June 21 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said Saturday night that U.S. warplanes "obliterated" three Iranian nuclear sites, while warning the Islamic regime to agree to peace or more attacks will follow.
Trump initially announced the military intervention in a post on his Truth Social media platform Saturday evening, stating: "We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz and Eshafan."
"All planes are safely on their way home," Trump said. "Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the world that could have done this."
The strikes occurred at about 2:30 a.m. local time Sunday in Iran, The New York Times reported.
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The U.S. military earlier Saturday sent several B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and refueling aircraft to Guam.
B-2 bombers were used to strike the underground Fordow nuclear site, which requires bunker-buster bombs to destroy.
During a brief televised press conference at 10 p.m. EDT, the president described the attack as "massive precision strikes."
"Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world the strikes were a spectacular military success," he said.
"Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."
Iran state-run media have confirmed the attacks on the facilities.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued a statement, carried by the semi-official Tasmin news agency, that does not confirm the extent of the damage but describes the military action as "a savage assault" in violation of international law.
Trump, in his press conference, continued that if Iran does not agree to peace, to ending its conflicts with the United States and Israel, the United States will attack again.
"Remember there are many targets left," he threatened. "Tonight's was the most difficult of them -- by far -- and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes."
Ahead of Trump speaking, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a recorded statement, congratulated the American president for his "bold decision" to attack Iran.
He said it will "change history."
"History will record that president Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime the world's most dangerous weapons," he said.
"First comes strength, then comes peace, and tonight, President Trump and the united states acted with a lot of Strength."
Aerial strikes end two-week negotiation pause
The aerial strikes and B-2s' deployment come after Trump earlier this week announced a two-week negotiating window to allow for potential cease-fire talks to end the hostilities between Israel and Iran.
Trump also has said the United States knows where Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is sheltering but won't target him with a military strike for the time being.
Israel has gained aerial superiority in the skies over Iran, but Israel's conventional munitions can't effectively penetrate the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant site, which is located underground in a mountainous area in central Iran, according to reports.
B-2 bombers armed with bunker-buster bombs, however, can penetrate the site.
Each bomber can carry bomb loads of up to 40,000 pounds, which makes them capable of deploying 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs against the Fordow site.
The bunker-buster bombs can penetrate "any mixture of earth, rock and concrete before the bomb itself then explodes" deep beneath the Earth's surface and obliterate a target, cause its support structure to collapse, or both.
Formidable Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant site
Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is located near Qom in central Iran and about 100 miles south of Tehran.
The facility has 3,000 centrifuges that are located about 300 feet beneath the area's mountains, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The International Atomic Energy Agency in two years ago reported it had discovered enriched uranium that had reached 83.7% purity at the Fordow site.
Nuclear weapons require 90% enriched uranium to become viable weapons of mass destruction.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday said Iran refuses to reduce its nuclear enrichment "under any circumstances," The New York Times reported.
Iran is "ready to talk and cooperate" with world leaders but will continue its retaliatory attacks against Israel, Pezeshkian said.
The Iranian president's position runs counter to that of Trump's and other U.S. leaders.
Trump "hates nuclear proliferation, [and] I hate nuclear proliferation," Vice President JD Vance told attendees at the Munich Leaders Meeting held in Washington, D.C., on May 7.
Vance advocated for meeting with Chinese and Russian officials to reduce the number of nuclear arms in the world.
"There is no way you get to that conversation if you allow multiple regimes all over the world to ... enter this sprint for a nuclear weapon," Vance said,
"If the Iran domino falls, you're going to see nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East," he added. "That's very bad for us. It's very bad for our friends, and it's something that we don't think can happen."
Vance asked attendees which nation has "civil nuclear power" but does not also have nuclear weapons. "The answer is: No one," Vance said.
"We don't care if people want nuclear power," he said. "But you can't have the kind of enrichment program that allows you to get to a nuclear weapon, and that's where we draw the line."
Houthis to resume attacks on U.S. vessels
If the U.S. attacks the Fordow site or otherwise intervenes in the war between Israel and Iraq, the Houthis have said they will resume attacks on U.S.-flagged commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea.
"Any U.S. aggression or attack in support of the Israeli enemy against Iran serves this goal and therefore cannot go unanswered," the Houthis said in a statement on Saturday.
"Remaining silent would mean surrendering the freedom and dignity of the [Iranian] nation and allowing its wealth to be plundered," the statement continued.
"This is a battle for the entire nation and a salvation for all its people."
The Houthis agreed to stop targeting U.S.-flagged vessels in May after enduring a weeks-long aerial campaign by the U.S. military against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Iranian officials also have threatened to target U.S. bases in the Middle East if the U.S. military intervenes in the war.
Iran's nuclear capabilities
Iran's nuclear capabilities has been a threat and a preoccupation for both the U.S. and Israeli governments, though it does not have a nuclear weapon.
In 2018, during his first term in office, Trump slapped sanctions on Iran withdrew the United States from an Obama-era multinational accord aimed at preventing Tehran from achieving such weaponry, calling it "defective at its core."
Trump then pursued a so-called maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and other punitive measures targeting Iran, but it failed to coerce Tehran back to the negotiating table, and instead reneged on its responsibilities under the landmark accord and advanced its nuclear weapons capabilities. In 2022, the U.S. government estimated that Iran would need just a week to produce enough weapons-grade highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon.
Then the years-long proxy war between Israel and Iran exploded into the forefront when Tehran-backed Hamas launched its bloody surprise invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, raising fears that the conflict may spread.
During his second term in office, Trump, who has framed himself as a president seeking peace, restarted his maximum pressure campaign on Iran and was seeking to resume negotiations with the Middle Eastern country -- efforts that fell apart earlier this month when Israel attacked Iran, which set in motion escalations that have now resulted in the United States entering the Israel-Iran war.
