Top US officials, including US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, are briefing reporters at the Pentagon after the Trump administration carried out an attack on key Iranian nuclear facilities early Sunday.
- Hegseth says America doesn’t ‘seek war’ and didn’t target Iranian troops or people, The Associated Press reports.
- Iran’s nuclear ambitions “have been obliterated” after US military strikes on its key nuclear facilities, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says.
- “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated,” CNN quotes Hegseth as saying.
- The order we received from our commander in chief was focussed, it was powerful, and it was clear, Hegseth says, according to CNN.
- Fordow was our primary target, US defence officials tell media persons during the press conference at the Pentagon.
- “We devastated the Iranian nuclear program”, Pentagon chief tells mediapersons.
- The American operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people, Hegseth insists.
- Deception, decoys and fighters helped protect US bombers that dropped 14 bunker-buster bombs on Iranian targets, the Pentagon says.
- “Operation Midnight Hammer” against Iran involved more than 125 US military aircraft and a deception operation that saw US bombers deployed over the Pacific as a “decoy,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine says.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine (@thejointstaff) on Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER: “This was the largest B-2 operation strike in U.S. history.” pic.twitter.com/VeyUjP84JT
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 22, 2025
- Over 125 aircraft were deployed, including the B2s, refuelling tankers, reconnaissance planes and fighter jets, Caine says.
- The American bombers struck Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan nuclear facilities in Iran starting 6:40 p.m. Eastern Time and were out of Iranian airspace by 7 p.m. ET, Caine says.
- The Sunday mission, which started from a US Air Force base in Missouri, was the longest B2 mission since the September 11 attacks, Caine tells reporters.
- As part of the ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’, dozens of Tomahawk missiles were also launched at Iranian targets, Caine says.
- In the intervening night of Friday into Saturday, a large B-2 strike package comprising bombers launched from the continental US, Caine says.
- The main strike package consisted of seven B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, and it proceeded discreetly to the east with minimal communications, Caine says
- Caine tells the media that in order to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy known only to a selected few in Washington and in Tampa.
- US officials say that the entire operation took a couple of weeks of preparations
- Top American officials insist that this mission was not about regime change in Iran
- President Donald Trump was fully committed to the process, key US official tells media persons present at the Pentagon
- Hegseth asserts the US President’s operation was bold and no other military could have conducted this operation. “The operation President Trump planned was bold, and it was brilliant. Showing the world that American deterrence is back.”
- Assessment of damage from last night’s US strikes on Iranian targets is underway, officials say.
- Reiterating an unwillingness for the US intervention in Iran to turn into a prolonged war, US defence chief labels the overnight strikes as “intentionally limited.”
- There are both public and private messages being directly delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table, Hegseth says, per the Associated Press.
- “When this President speaks, the world should listen. And the US military? We can back it up. The most powerful military the world has ever known. No other country on the planet could have conducted the operation,” Hegseth says.
The US on Sunday launched strikes on three underground nuclear facilities in Iran. Speaking from the White House, President Trump announced that America carried out “massive precision” strikes on Iran and warned the latter of further retaliation if peace was not achieved. Iran has condemned the attacks, calling them a violation of international law and has vowed to continue its nuclear program.
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