President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening that the United States had conducted “very successful” airstrikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities, marking the first direct U.S. military involvement in the escalating Israel-Iran conflict.
Fox News host Sean Hannity reported specific details from a conversation with Trump during his nightly telecast, stating that B-2 stealth bombers dropped six bunker-busting bombs on the Fordow facility while Tomahawk missiles from U.S. submarines struck the Natanz and Isfahan sites.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Saturday for comment.
The Context
The decision to send American troops into Iranian airspace to drop 30,000-lb. bombs on its soil represents an extraordinary ramping up of tensions between Iran and the West, and nothing less than a reordering of American foreign policy.
The strikes target Iran’s most fortified nuclear facilities, including the underground Fordow site built deep under a mountain specifically to withstand conventional attacks. The operation required the use of 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, which only B-2 bombers can carry.
Under three presidents — including Trump in his first term — the U.S. has been reluctant to get directly involved in regional conflicts following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Trump fired a few dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria in the first year of his first term and famously ordered the strike that killed Iranian military chief Qasem Soleimani in 2020, the potential for the U.S. joining a regime-change war in a country of 90 million people is another matter. The U.S. public is broadly against going to war with the Iranians, with 60 percent unsupportive of direct intervention, according to a YouGov poll last week.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been encouraging a more direct American role in its bombing campaign against Tehran, the latest volley in a war between Israel and Iran, via its proxies, that began with Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The initial reaction from Israel overnight suggested the country was largely with Trump’s decision.
What To Know
“Iran’s nuclear ambitions are officially dead. The United States just completely obliterated Iran’s top secret Fordow nuclear facility with 6 huge bunker buster bombs,” Hannity said, citing direct information from the president.
“Two other major Iranian nuclear sites, Natanz and Estefan, were wiped out with 30 Tomahawk missiles launched by American submarines some 400 miles away.”
The bombing campaign came after Trump had given Iran a deadline of two weeks to make a deal as recently as Thursday. The Fordow facility, considered ground zero of Iran’s nuclear program, is built deep underground near the holy city of Qom and has been enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, approaching weapons-grade levels.
According to Iranian state television, all three nuclear sites had been evacuated prior to the strikes, though the extent of damage remains unclear. The operation involved sophisticated military coordination, with submarines positioned 400 miles from their targets to launch precision Tomahawk strikes.
🚨BREAKING: Sean Hannity delivers new information directly from President Trump on the U.S. strikes on Iran:
“The United States just completely obliterated Iran’s top secret Fordow nuclear facility with 6 huge bunker buster bombs.”
“Two other major Iranian nuclear sites,… pic.twitter.com/K9PS1q6Vu8
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 22, 2025
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Saturday: “A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky on X: “This is not constitutional.”
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on X: “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS. Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina) on X: “This was the right call. The regime deserved it.”
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan called the strikes: “F****** sick” and urged colleagues to support a war powers resolution.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallan on X: “President Trump took a bold decision for the United States, for Israel, for all of humanity. The world is now a safer place.”
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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