In an unprecedented escalation of hostilities, the United States has formally entered the Israel–Iran conflict by launching coordinated airstrikes alongside Israeli forces on three of Iran’s most critical nuclear facilities early Saturday morning. The attacks mark the first time since the 2003 Iraq invasion that American bombers have struck a sovereign nation’s nuclear infrastructure.
At approximately 2:30 a.m. Iran time, six U.S. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers flew in undetected and dropped 12 GBU-57A/B “Massive Ordnance Penetrator” bombs on Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan nuclear complexes—facilities long believed by Western and Israeli intelligence to house advanced uranium enrichment operations. The bombers were supported by submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles aimed at fortified underground targets, according to Pentagon officials.
Speaking from the White House, President Donald Trump hailed the strikes as a “spectacular military success,” declaring the targets “completely and totally obliterated.” Reuters confirmed the President’s exact phrasing. Trump also claimed that no nuclear breakout will be tolerated—not now, not ever.
The airstrikes followed a week of mounting tensions triggered by Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, an air campaign that reportedly killed multiple senior Iranian officers in Syria and Iraq. Iran’s retaliatory drone strike on Tel Aviv days later, its first direct hit on Israeli territory, prompted urgent war cabinet meetings in Washington and Tel Aviv. The latest U.S.-Israeli operation, however, has shattered any remaining diplomatic illusion.
Iran has condemned the joint strikes as a “grave violation of international law.” The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran stated that while no radiological leak had been detected, several personnel were killed. It called the attacks a direct assault on Iran’s sovereignty and nuclear dignity.
“This was an act of war,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, calling it “a Western betrayal of diplomacy.”
He vowed “unmatched retaliation that will shock the aggressors.”
Independent observers and analysts reported that while the above-ground structures of Natanz and Fordow appear destroyed, Iran’s deep-enrichment tunnels beneath the mountain at Fordow may have survived. The IAEA confirmed it had lost communication with its field team inside Iran and reported that it had “not observed any increase in radiation” though Director General Rafael Grossi called the incident “an unprecedented threat to nuclear safety.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded within hours, launching more than 40 ballistic missiles and suicide drones toward Israeli cities, striking near Tel Aviv, Haifa, and military installations in the Negev. Israeli officials reported at least 85 injuries, and civilian areas were damaged in what was described as the most intense bombardment since the 2006 Lebanon war.
Israel claimed its Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow defense systems intercepted 90% of the attacks. Still, video footage from Tel Aviv showed families fleeing shelters, emergency sirens wailing, and medics treating bleeding civilians on sidewalks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the nation from an undisclosed location, said,
“Iran has crossed every red line. We are at war. Israel will respond in full force.”
The conflict’s regional dimensions rapidly expanded. Houthi rebels in Yemen, aligned with Tehran, launched rocket attacks on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, according to Times of Israel and Al Jazeera. Hezbollah units in southern Lebanon began shelling Israeli positions along the northern border, drawing immediate IDF retaliation.
On the diplomatic front, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strikes and urged “maximum restraint from all sides.” In a fiery emergency session at the UN Security Council, Russia accused the U.S. and Israel of “neo-imperialist aggression,” while China warned the strikes “threaten to destabilize all of Eurasia.”
Global financial markets tumbled. Brent crude prices surged by 8.3%, topping $105 per barrel, amid fears of disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, which channels 20% of the world’s oil supply. Gold prices spiked, while equity markets from Tokyo to Frankfurt posted steep early losses.
In Washington, political divisions sharpened. Several congressional Democrats decried the attack as unconstitutional, claiming Trump bypassed legislative approval in breach of the War Powers Resolution. Yet a majority of Republican lawmakers, including Senate hawks, defended the operation.
However, U.S. intelligence remains divided. While Israeli sources claim Iran was just “15 days away” from assembling a bomb, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence estimated Tehran would require “at least 3 to 6 months” to complete a weapon—if it ever chose to pursue one.
Meanwhile, India, which maintains neutral ties with both nations, evacuated 110 nationals from Iran in a military airlift under Operation Sindhu. France, Germany, and the UK also issued evacuation advisories.
Inside Iran, the mood is grim. Internet blackouts were reported in Tehran, Isfahan, and Qom. Civilian footage uploaded before the outage showed fireballs rising over the horizon, car alarms blaring, and terrified families taking shelter underground.
This moment, many fear, may be the tipping point. The last time a nuclear facility was bombed in the Middle East—Israel’s 1981 Osirak strike in Iraq—it was an isolated act. This time, the world’s most powerful military has joined in, the retaliation has already begun, and the flames are spreading.
With diplomacy in ruins and Iran vowing “permanent retribution,” the world stands on the precipice. And once again, it is Iran, its skies, its people, and its sovereignty that have become the ground zero of geopolitical calculation.
