US strikes 3 Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says

TEL AVIV, Israel — President Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel ’s effort to decapitate the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from the Iranian government of any strikes being carried out. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported early Sunday that attacks targeted the country’s Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. The agency did not elaborate.

The decision to directly involve the U.S. in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that aimed to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound (13,500-kilogram) bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.

President Trump says Iranian enrichment facilities have been "completely and totally obliterated" in U.S. strikes.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in a post on social media. ”All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.”

Trump added in a later post that he would address the nation at 10 p.m. Eastern time, writing “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”

Trump said B-2 stealth bombers were used but did not specify what types of bombs were dropped. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation.

The strikes are a perilous decision, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if the U.S. joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally. He won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism.

Trump told reporters Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran, saying it’s “the last thing you want to do.” He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States on Wednesday that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.” And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared “any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.”

Trump has vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, and he had initially hoped that the threat of force would bring the country’s leaders to give up its nuclear program peacefully.

The Israeli military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran’s foreign minister warned before the U.S. attack that American military involvement “would be very, very dangerous for everyone.”

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on Jan. 24, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

The prospect of a wider war loomed. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joined Israel’s military campaign. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the U.S.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel announced that the U.S. had begun “assisted departure flights,” the first from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza .

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump planned to make his decision on the strikes within two weeks. Instead, he struck just two days later.

Trump appears to have made the calculation — at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republican lawmakers — that Israel’s operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran’s nuclear program, perhaps permanently.

The Israelis say their offensive has already crippled Iran’s air defenses, allowing them to already significantly degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites.

But to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant , Israel appealed to Trump for the bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. The bomb is currently delivered only by the B-2 stealth bomber, which is only found in the American arsenal.

If deployed in the attack, it would be the first combat use of the weapon.

The bomb carries a conventional warhead and is believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility.

Previous Israeli strikes at another Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, on a centrifuge site have caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area, the IAEA has said.

Trump’s decision for direct U.S. military intervention comes after his administration made an unsuccessful two-month push — including with high-level, direct negotiations with the Iranians — aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear program.

For months, Trump said he was dedicated to a diplomatic push to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. And he twice — in April and again in late May — persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on military action against Iran and give diplomacy more time.

The U.S. in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and U.S. bases from Iranian attacks.

All the while, Trump has gone from publicly expressing hope that the moment could be a “second chance” for Iran to make a deal to delivering explicit threats on Khamenei and making calls for Tehran’s unconditional surrender.

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump said in a social media posting. “He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”

The military showdown with Iran comes seven years after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Obama-administration brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the “worst deal ever.”

The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, U.S. and other world powers, created a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Trump decried the Obama-era deal for giving Iran too much in return for too little, because the agreement did not cover Iran’s non-nuclear malign behavior.

Trump has bristled at criticism from some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further U.S. involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end U.S. involvement in expensive and endless wars.

Madhani reported from Washington. Rising reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Samy Magdy in Cairo; Matthew Lee and Josh Boak in Washington, D.C.; and Farnoush Amiri and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.

以色列特拉维夫——美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周六表示，美军袭击了伊朗境内的三个目标，直接加入了以色列摧毁伊朗核计划的行动。这是一次冒险的举动，旨在削弱这个长期的敌人，而德黑兰则威胁要进行报复，这可能会引发更大规模的地区冲突。

伊朗政府尚未对任何袭击事件作出回应。伊朗官方通讯社伊通社（IRNA）周日早些时候报道称，袭击目标是该国的福尔多、伊斯法罕和纳坦兹核设施。该通讯社未提供更多细节。

在以色列对伊朗发动超过一周的空袭，旨在系统性地摧毁伊朗的防空系统和进攻性导弹能力，并破坏其核浓缩设施之后，美国决定直接卷入这场战争。但美国和以色列官员表示，只有美国的隐形轰炸机及其能够携带的重达3万磅（13500公斤）的掩体炸弹，才能最有效地摧毁与伊朗核计划相关的、深埋地下的重兵把守设施。

特朗普总统称，伊朗的浓缩铀设施已在美国的打击行动中“彻底摧毁”。

特朗普在社交媒体上发帖称：“我们已成功完成对伊朗三个核设施的袭击，包括福尔多、纳坦兹和伊斯法罕。所有飞机现已离开伊朗领空。我们向主要目标福尔多投下了满载炸弹。所有飞机均已安全返航。”

特朗普随后又发帖称，他将于美国东部时间晚上10点向全国发表讲话，并写道：“这对美国、以色列和全世界来说都是一个历史性的时刻。伊朗现在必须同意结束这场战争。谢谢！”

特朗普称使用了B-2隐形轰炸机，但没有具体说明投掷了何种类型的炸弹。白宫和五角大楼没有立即公布行动详情。

这次空袭是一个危险的决定，因为伊朗已经誓言，如果美国加入以色列的袭击，伊朗将进行报复；而且对特朗普个人而言，这也是一个危险的决定。他当初赢得白宫时，承诺让美国远离代价高昂的海外冲突，并且对美国干涉主义的价值嗤之以鼻。

特朗普周五告诉记者，他无意向伊朗派遣地面部队，称这是“最不应该做的事情”。他此前曾表示，将在两周内做出最终决定。

伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊周三警告美国，针对伊朗的袭击将“给美国造成无法弥补的损害”。伊朗外交部发言人伊斯梅尔·巴盖伊宣称，“任何美国的干预都将引发该地区的全面战争”。

特朗普曾誓言绝不允许伊朗获得核武器，他最初希望武力威胁能够迫使伊朗领导人和平放弃其核计划。

以色列军方周六表示，他们正在为可能发生的长期战争做准备，而伊朗外交部长在美国发动袭击前警告说，美国的军事介入“对所有人来说都将非常非常危险”。

这张由Maxar Technologies提供的卫星图像显示了2025年1月24日位于伊朗的福尔多浓缩铀设施。（Maxar Technologies via AP）

战争升级的阴影笼罩着大地。也门胡塞武装表示，如果特朗普政府加入以色列的军事行动，他们将恢复对红海美国船只的袭击。胡塞武装此前曾于今年5月根据与美国达成的协议暂停了此类袭击。

美国驻以色列大使宣布，美国已开始“协助撤离航班”，这是自 2023 年 10 月 7 日哈马斯领导的袭击引发加沙战争以来，以色列首次提供撤离航班。

白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特周四表示，特朗普计划在两周内就空袭问题做出决定。然而，仅仅两天后，他就下令发动了空袭。

在以色列官员和许多共和党议员的敦促下，特朗普似乎已经权衡利弊，认为以色列的行动已经为挫败伊朗的核计划提供了一个前所未有的机会，甚至可能是永久性地挫败伊朗的核计划。

以色列方面表示，他们的攻势已经削弱了伊朗的防空系统，使他们能够对伊朗的多个核设施造成重大破坏。

但为了摧毁福尔多核燃料浓缩厂，以色列向特朗普请求提供美国制造的GBU-57巨型穿透弹，这种炸弹利用自身重量和巨大的动能击穿深埋地下的目标并引爆。目前，这种炸弹只能由B-2隐形轰炸机投放，而B-2轰炸机也是美国武库中唯一的装备。

如果在这次袭击中部署，这将是该武器首次在实战中使用。

该炸弹携带常规弹头，据信可在爆炸前穿透地表以下约 200 英尺（61 米），而且这些炸弹可以一枚接一枚地投放，每次爆炸都会有效地钻得更深。

国际原子能机构已证实伊朗在福尔多生产高浓缩铀，这增加了如果使用 GBU-57 A/B 炸弹袭击该设施，核材料可能会释放到该地区的可能性。

国际原子能机构表示，以色列此前对伊朗另一处核设施纳坦兹离心机设施的袭击只造成了该设施本身的污染，并未造成周边地区的污染。

特朗普决定直接进行美国军事干预之前，他的政府曾进行了两个月的努力，包括与伊朗进行高级别直接谈判，但未能成功说服德黑兰限制其核计划。

几个月来，特朗普一直表示他致力于通过外交努力说服伊朗放弃其核计划。他曾两次——分别在4月和5月下旬——说服以色列总理内塔尼亚胡暂缓对伊朗采取军事行动，给予外交努力更多时间。

近几日，美国一直在向中东及其周边地区调集军用飞机和军舰，以保护以色列和美国基地免受伊朗的袭击。

与此同时，特朗普的态度也发生了转变，从公开表示希望伊朗能够迎来“第二次机会”达成协议，到明确威胁哈梅内伊，并呼吁德黑兰无条件投降。

特朗普在社交媒体上发帖称：“我们确切地知道所谓的‘最高领袖’藏在哪里。他是个容易对付的目标，但他在那里很安全——我们不会除掉他（杀了他！），至少现在不会。”

与伊朗的军事对抗发生在特朗普于 2018 年退出奥巴马政府斡旋达成的协议七年后，当时特朗普称该协议是“有史以来最糟糕的协议”。

2015 年，伊朗、美国和其他世界大国签署了一项协议，该协议是一项长期、全面的核协议，限制了德黑兰的铀浓缩活动，以换取经济制裁的解除。

特朗普谴责奥巴马时代的协议给予伊朗的回报过多而回报过少，因为该协议没有涵盖伊朗的非核恶意行为。

特朗普对一些“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）忠实拥趸的批评感到恼火，其中包括保守派评论员塔克·卡尔森，他们认为美国进一步介入战争是对支持者的背叛，这些支持者是被他结束美国参与昂贵且无休止的战争的承诺所吸引的。

马德哈尼从华盛顿报道。赖辛从阿联酋迪拜报道。美联社记者穆罕默德·古泽尔（伊斯坦布尔）、约瑟夫·费德曼（耶路撒冷）、萨米·马格迪（开罗）、马修·李和乔什·博克（华盛顿特区）、法努什·阿米里和乔恩·甘布雷尔（迪拜）也对本报道做出了贡献。