June 22, 2025 â A new chapter in U.S.âMiddle East relations has begun, and the world may never be the same.
Late Saturday night, President Donald J. Trump announced that the United States had conducted a surprise airstrike targeting three of Iranâs key nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
âWe have completed our very successful attack on three nuclear sites in Iran,â Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
âAll planes are now out of Iranian airspace. A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All aircraft are safe and returning home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE.â
đŹ Netanyahu: âThis Will Change Historyâ
Reacting swiftly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement praising Trumpâs boldness:
âCongratulations President Trump. Your courageous decision to target Iranâs nuclear facilities with the righteous might of the United States will change the course of history.
President Trump and I have often said: Peace through strength. First comes strength, then comes peace. And tonight, President Trump acted with overwhelming strength.â
The statement marks a historic alignment between Washington and Tel Aviv, further tightening cooperation against Iranâs nuclear ambitions.
đŽđˇ Iran Responds: âWe Evacuated. There Was No Real Damage.â
But Iran isnât backing down â at least not publicly.
In a live TV broadcast, Hassan Abedini, deputy political director of Iranian state media, confirmed the locations were evacuated âsome time ago,â implying that little of strategic value was lost.
âEven if what Trump said is true, we suffered no major blow. The materials had already been moved,â he stated.
Other Iranian officials echoed this tone, with Crisis Management spokesperson Morteza Heydari confirming only partial damage at Fordow, and Akbar Salehi, deputy governor of Isfahan, admitting explosions near Natanz and Isfahan but without elaborating on casualties or core destruction.
Notably, this marks the first time since Iranâs 1979 revolution that the U.S. has directly bombed nuclear sites deep inside Iranian territory.
đŹ Was It a Surprise?
Yes â even major media outlets were caught off guard. Hours before the announcement, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump was âstill weighing options.â Behind the scenes, however, B-2 stealth bombers, capable of delivering deep-penetrating ordnance, had already been deployed from Missouri.
While unconfirmed whether these specific bombers carried out the strike, their movement aligns with the timeline.
â˘ď¸ What Was Targeted? A Breakdown of the Sites
Natanz: Iranâs largest uranium enrichment facility, housing thousands of centrifuges both above and below ground. Past IAEA reports indicated enrichment levels as high as 60%. Fordow: A heavily fortified site buried beneath a mountain near Qom, accessible only with advanced bunker-busting bombs. Said to house ~2,700 centrifuges. Isfahan: Home to Iranâs largest nuclear research complex, employing 3,000+ scientists and operating Chinese-supplied reactors, uranium conversion plants, and advanced research labs.
IAEA inspectors recently confirmed the presence of weapons-grade uranium storage near Isfahan, just two weeks prior to the strike.
âď¸ Strategic or Symbolic?
While Iranian state media downplayed the impact, U.S. officials privately suggest the strikes may have slowed Iranâs program significantly â but only temporarily, unless undisclosed underground facilities still exist.
Some experts warn the move could provoke escalation or retaliatory strikes via Iranian proxies in the region.
