(4th LD) Trump-Iran-attack

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States conducted precision strikes on three key nuclear facilities in Iran over the weekend, President Donald Trump has said, casting them as a "spectacular" success that "completely" obliterated the Islamic Republic's key uranium enrichment facilities.

Trump made the announcement in a televised address on Saturday, two days after he said he would decide whether the U.S. will strike Iran "within two weeks," as he was preparing to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit set to take place in The Hague, the Netherlands, next week.

Calling Iran "the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terror" and the "bully of the Middle East," the president warned that future U.S. attacks would be "far greater" and "a lot easier" if Tehran refuses to make peace.

"A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan," he said, noting that the strikes were aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and stopping its nuclear threat.

"Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the White House in Washington on June 21, 2025, in this photo released by AFP. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

During the operation, codenamed "Midnight Hammer," the U.S. military employed more than 125 aircraft, including B-2 stealth bombers and dozens of air refueling tankers, as well as 75 precision guided weapons, including 14 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs, according to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.

It marked the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history and the first-ever operational use of the MOP, the general said.

The president defended the military action, accusing Iran of conducting long-running deadly operations against U.S. military personnel.

"For 40 years, Iran has been saying, 'Death to America, Death to Israel.' They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs. That was their specialty," he said.

"We lost over 1,000 people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate. In particular, so many were killed by their Gen. Qasem Soleimani," he stressed, referring to the Iranian military leader who was killed in an American drone strike in Iraq in 2020.

Trump sent an unequivocal warning to Iran, saying that there will be "either peace or tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days."

"Remember there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal," he said. "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."

Of the attacked sites, the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz where Israel conducted air strikes, while the site in Isfahan is where the Islamic Republic is thought to maintain its near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, according to reports.

Iranian officials reportedly downplayed the extent of the damage from the strikes, saying key materials had already been taken out from the facilities. But U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation "obliterated" Iran's nuclear ambitions, calling it an "incredible" and "overwhelming" success.

"We devastated the Iranian nuclear program. It's worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people," he told a press briefing Sunday.

The Pentagon chief also said the strike operation was not about regime change, while warning against Iran's retaliation.

"It would be a very bad idea for Iran or its proxies to attempt to attack American forces," Hegseth said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for the weekend strikes, saying Trump's leadership has created a "pivot of history that can help lead the Middle East and beyond to a future of prosperity and peace."

"Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the U.S. will change history," he said in a televised address.

"In tonight's action against Iran's nuclear facilities, America has been truly unsurpassed ... History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous weapons."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement as he visits the site of the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by Iranian missiles in the central city of Rehovot, Israel, on June 20, 2025, in this photo released by EPA. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, however, decried America's attack as a "dangerous escalation."

"I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge -- and a direct threat to international peace and security," he said in a statement posted on the U.N. website.

"There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control -- with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world."

The U.S. attack came despite expectations that under Trump's America First policy, the U.S. will not start or enter any foreign war, as it prioritizes countering the "pacing" threat from China.

The latest conflict in the Middle East started with Israel's June 13 attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, missile factories and other sites, which killed top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists, and raised fears of a wider regional war.

Israel justified the surprise attack, citing an existential threat from Iran's push to develop nuclear arms, at a time when two Iranian-backed militant groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, have been degraded with the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

Trump has called for Iran's "unconditional" surrender -- a demand that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected.

The White House is seen in Washington on June 21, 2025, in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)

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