Published: 8:12pm, 22 Jun 2025Updated: 10:56pm, 22 Jun 2025
The Middle East is plunged deeper into crisis after the United States launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which US President Donald Trump said “completely and fully obliterated” three key sites, marking a major escalation in the Israel-Iran air war.
Detailing a complex strike mission dubbed “Midnight Hammer” that involved seven B-2 bombers and the deployment of Massive Ordnance Penetrator “bunker buster” bombs for the first time in a conflict, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the operation “was an incredible and overwhelming success”.
“It was powerful, and it was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program, but it’s worth noting the operation, did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people,” Hegseth said in a press briefing at the Pentagon, adding that the operation “involved misdirection and the highest of operational security”.
Speaking with Hegseth, General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said “final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction”.
Israel and Iran have exchanged wave after wave of devastating and deadly strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Follow live updates as the world reacts to this critical development in the Middle East.
More from our coverage:
– China condemns US strikes on Iran, calls for ceasefire and talks
– As US enters Israel-Iran conflict, are China’s Middle East interests at risk?
– Mideast distractions won’t shift US’ long-term focus on China: analysts
Reporting by Khushboo Razdan, Ziwen Zhao and Robert Delaney