TEHRAN – The United States has launched a series of coordinated airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, prompting a warning from Tehran that the attacks will carry “everlasting consequences.”
Iranian state media reported loud explosions early Sunday in Bushehr, a strategic port city in the southwest that houses the country’s only active nuclear power plant. The Fars News Agency said two sites in the city were hit but did not confirm whether the nuclear plant itself was among the targets.
Israel was blamed by Iranian outlets for strikes in Bushehr and Yazd. In Yazd, video footage verified by international news outlets showed thick smoke rising from the Shahid Sadoughi Barracks, a facility operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The United States later confirmed its role in the overnight operation—codenamed “Operation Midnight Hammer”—which began Friday midnight US time. According to US military officials, seven B-2 bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities. Cruise missiles were also fired at Isfahan from submarines in the region.
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, disclosed that over 125 aircraft participated in the mission. Bombers had taken off from Missouri in the US, with some flying west over the Pacific as decoys while the main strike team flew east with minimal communications. The operation concluded within minutes and Iranian defenses did not retaliate during the attack or withdrawal.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the attack delivered the intended blow. “The Iranian nuclear program has been devastated,” he told reporters in Washington. However, he cautioned that a full assessment of the damage is still ongoing.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had earlier warned that a direct hit on Bushehr’s nuclear facility could release dangerous levels of radiation across the Gulf.
Tehran insists its nuclear program remains peaceful under the terms of the UN’s Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but Western experts have disputed that claim. David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security, said Iran had set itself on this path by allegedly breaching international agreements.
The strikes come after months of tensions and failed nuclear negotiations. Iran had been in indirect talks with Washington through regional intermediaries, with a sixth round recently canceled following an Israeli operation on Iranian military leaders.
Iran’s warning of severe consequences was echoed by growing concern in the Gulf. The United Arab Emirates, which hosts US troops and lies just across the Persian Gulf from Bushehr, called for immediate de-escalation. Its nuclear authority confirmed there were no radiation threats to its population but urged citizens to avoid misinformation.
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