On September 5, 2024, a B-2-stealth bomber conducts a fly before the NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens in the area of Gehlha in the Arrowhead Stadium. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
This report has been updated.
Washington – President Donald Trump said on Saturday evening that the United States attacked three nuclear sites in Iran, and all US aircraft were outside Iran and on the way back to the United States.
“The US military recently carried out massive precision attacks on the three most important nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan,” Trump said shortly after 10 p.m. on tiny television from the White House.
“Our goal was the destruction of the nuclear enrichment capacity of Iran and a stop for the nuclear threat to the world’s leading terror sponsor No. 1,” he said. “Tonight I can tell the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s most important nuclear enrichment systems were completely and completely wiped out.”
Trump of Vice President JD Vance, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Minister of Defense
“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, now has to make peace,” he said. “If this is not the case, future attacks will be far greater and much easier.”
Trump had first announced the strikes about two hours earlier on social media.
“All planes are now outside the Iran air. A complete payload of bombs was dropped at the primary location, Fordow. All planes are sheltered on the way home. Congratulations to our great American warriors.
Several US house democrats questioned the legality of the bomb attack.
“President Trump has no constitutional authority to take us to war without the approval of the congress, and the congress did not approved it,” Don Beyer, a house democrat from Virginia. wrote on x.
Earlier on Saturday there was numerous reports that B-2 bombers had been sent by Whiteman Air Force Base in Johnson County, Missouri, and flew over the Pacific.
Trump returned to the White House at around 6 p.m. Eastern from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to take part in a national security meeting in the White House.
The attack on the Iranian locations supports an critical US allied Israel, while a different foreign policy priority for Trump management is distanced, a deal to limit the nuclear development of Iran.
“I would like to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” said Trump in the White House and referred to the Israeli Prime Minister.
Trump repeatedly said that Iran is not allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
GOP supports Trump
The Republican legislator in national security roles quickly burdened on social media and in statements on Saturday to support Trump’s decision.
The majority leader of the Senate, John Thune, Rs.d., said in an explanation: (*3*)
“Our commander-in-chief has made a deliberate and future degrees to eliminate the existential threat to the Iranian regime,” Roger Wicker, chairman of the US Senate, Roger Wicker, R-Miss. wrote on x. “We now have very stern decisions to offer our citizens and our allies and stability for the Middle East.
The chairman of the House Intelligence, Rick Crawford, a Republican from Arkansas, accused Iran for the conflict.
“As I have said recently recently, I was realizing that Iran brought the world at the time,” he wrote about X.
Senator Todd Young, a Republican of Indiana and a member of the Senate’s intelligence agency, who is not always aligned with Trump, also praised the move.
“Many thanks to our brave service members who executed this mission,” he said. “The world will be safer if Iran’s nuclear ability is destroyed. I’m looking forward to briefings in the coming days.”
The Republican MP from Kentucky, Thomas Massie, a libertarian who often contradicts his party leadership, expressed his opposition in a social media post on Saturday evening.
“This is not constitutional”, ” He wrote.
Democrats react
The immediate reaction of the Democrats was mixed.
Pennsylvania’s senator, John Fetterman, described the move “The right decision” and added that “Iran is the world’s leading terror sponsor and cannot have nuclear skills”.
But members of the Progressive Caucus of the Congress addressed the question of congressing and required a vote on privilege resolution Sponsored by California Democrat Ro Khanna and Massie, which would block the military power against Iran.
“Donald Trump took illegally military measures against Iran – without the approval of the congress – to move us into another endless war,” wrote the Democrat of Arizona, Yassamin Ansari. “I am calling for an immediate emergency session of the congress in order to coordinate the decision of the war powers.”
“Instead of listening to the American people, Trump listens to war criminalnetanjahu, who lied through Iraq and lies over Iran again,” wrote Michigan’s democrat, Rashida Tlaib. “The congress must act immediately to exercise its war powers and to stop this impacted war act.”
The head of the house minority, Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, was sharply critical.
“Donald Trump promised to bring peace to the Middle East. He did not comply with this promise. The risk of war has now increased dramatically and I pray for the security of our troops in the region, which were put in danger,” said Jeffries in an explanation.
“President Trump misleaded the country because of his intentions, it failed to apply for the approval of the congress for the use of military violence and to risk American entanglement in a potentially catastrophic war in the Middle East.”
He said the congress had to be informed immediately in a classified environment.
Warning from Iran
Israel began bombing the Iranian nuclear facilities last week, and the US negotiations with Iran, which Trump repeated on Wednesday.
In a statement published on Wednesday by a spokesman for state television, Iranian top guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States not to be committed.
“Every form of US military intervention is undoubtedly encountered irreparable damage,” says the explanation loudly A BBC translation.
Before the announcement, the Republicans of the Congress generally supported an aggressive attitude towards Iran.
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican in Texas, told Capitol’s reporters that the Iran nuclear program should threaten the United States.
“When Ayatollah sings death to America,” I believe him, “said Cruz, referring to the highest leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.” President Trump, too, and therefore he acts as a commandant who is crucial to keep America sheltered. “
The potential of a nuclear Iran has encouraged the US political debates about the region for more than a decade.
During his first term, Trump withdrew from a deal that was negotiated by the government of former President Barack Obama, increasing sanctions against Iran in an exchange for limiting his nuclear development.
Iran and Hamas
Iran and Israel have had no diplomatic relationships since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and everyone was a main antagonist in the other’s foreign policy.
Israel has long prioritized that Iran refuse a nuclear weapon. Iran financed Hamas, the militant group, which launched the attack in October 2023 on Israel, who triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, and the Hisbollah, a militant group in Lebanon.
The US Senator Joni Ernst raised Iran’s support for Hamas at a hearing from the Senate Department last week and used it as a reason for the US participation in the region.
“Who is the main sponsor of Hamas?” Defense Minister Pete Hegseth asked the Iowa Republican.
Hegseth replied Iran.
“Forty -three Americans lost their lives through Hamas on October 7,” continued Ernst. “So if there is a question whether it is appropriate for America to get involved in the Middle East to defend Americans who live and work abroad, I think our answer is.”
Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.
