What happened on the day the United States bombed Iran
Day of Infamy
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that it would be a date that would live in infamy. One can help but wonder what would FDR have said of Operation Midnight Hammer.
Where to go from here
Ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, relations between Washington and Tehran have been tense and antagonistic. However, US President Donald Trump might have unwittingly started a whole new chapter in America's relationship with the Middle East.
The US attacks Iran
The New York Times reported on June 22 that US planes and submarines attacked three of Iran’s nuclear sites, effectively getting Washington involved in Israel’s war against Teheran and causing fear and concern all over the map.
Operation Midnight Hammer
Al Jazeera revealed that the US military attacked nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan and then US planes left Iran’s airspace in what Washington has promised to be a single, limited operation.
Obliterated
According to The New York Times, President Trump addressed the nation shortly after the attacks were carried, describing the nuclear sites as “completely and totally obliterated.”
Image: Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility in Iran, a few days before the attack
Justified?
Trump justified the military action saying it was, “The destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror.”
Iran's response
Al Jazeera writes that Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, described the attacks as “outrageous” and warned that the US attacks on “peaceful nuclear installations” would have “everlasting consequences”.
Standing against the US
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its right to stand with all its might against US military aggression and the crimes committed by this rogue regime, and to defend the security and national interests of Iran,” Araghchi added, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Retaliation
The BBC reported that, as a retaliation, the Iranian military attacked a US base in Qatar, in a move described by Trump as “very weak” and “expected”.
Praises from Israel
Meanwhile, The New York Times highlights that the Tel Aviv government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, applauded the coordinated attack by the military forces of Israel and the United States.
History will absolve them?
“History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu declared, as cited by The New York Times.
Fragile peace
The day after Operation Midnight Hammer, US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire between his country, Iran, and Israel, providing a seemingly fragile peace for the time being. Many are skeptical that it will be long-lasting.
Another long-term conflict in the Middle East
Adam Weinstein, the deputy director of the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera that the United States could get dragged into another long-term conflict in the Middle East.
