Israel And Iran: Trump Says US Hits 3 Iranian Nuclear Sites

The United States struck three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday, plunging the U.S. into a pitched battle that has been waged over the past several days between Israel and Iran, ABC News reports.

According to the report by ABC News, the full ramifications of the U.S. action, announced by President Donald Trump as "very successful" were not clear. Trump and his closest advisers had been weighing for days how to proceed, debating the costs of involvement and inaction. Democrats and some Republicans had already criticized the strike just minutes after it was announced.

According to a U.S. official, B-2 stealth bombers were used in the strikes, but it was not clear which of the locations -- Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan -- were hit by them. Dozens of other U.S. aircraft were involved in the attacks, the official said.

The B-2 bombers dropped a number of 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs on their Iranian targets, devices that have never been used in combat but could tunnel 200 feet into the ground before exploding, a U.S. official said. The MOPs had been tested but never before used in combat and were believed necessary to access underground nuclear sites like those at Fordo.

The U.S. also used Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from submarines in the region and targeted more than just nuclear sites, a source told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.

Hours earlier, sources told ABC News that B-2 stealth bombers, the only planes capable of carrying the MOP "bunker-buster" bombs, were headed to Guam. It was not clear if any of those aircraft were involved in the strikes.

According to an Israeli official, the U.S. notified Israel ahead of the strike. Sources said House Speaker Mike Johnson was also briefed ahead of time. But other sources said that the full Gang of 8, including key Democrats, was not briefed until after the strikes. Some Democrats reacted harshly to the precarious military action in the volatile region, with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling it "ground for impeachment" and that Trump was in in "grave violation of the Constitution" by not seeking congressional authorization.

'Tremendous success,' Trump says

Trump first announced the strikes on Truth Social, a move that surprised many given his statement on Friday that there was a "substantial chance" of negotiations.

"A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," Trump posted on Truth Social. "All planes are safely on their way home."

"There is not another military in the World that could have done this," he added. "NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Trump, who spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according a senior administration official, briefly addressed the nation.

"Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in his address.

The president said that Iran's key uranium enrichment sites were "completely and totally obliterated."

And he warned Iran that it must now "make peace."

"If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier," Trump said. Many targets inside Iran remain, Trump said. "But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill."

The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization condemned the strikes as "a heinous act in contradiction with the international law, especially the NPT."

"This invasion occurred in violation of the international law, unfortunately amid indifference, and even companionship, of the IAEA," the organization added.

Days of missile barrages

Israel and Iran have been exchanging missile barrages since Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear program. Israeli officials said they felt Iran was getting too close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon.

Israel's operation, "Rising Lion," came after Israeli officials felt that Iran had enough nuclear material for several bombs, according to the Israel Defense Forces and an Israeli official familiar with the operation. In the initial preemptive attack, Israel hit the same three sites targeted by the U.S.

Several top Iranian nuclear scientists and the top general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in the operation, according to Iran.

In the wake of the Israeli strike on June 13, the two countries exchanged strikes daily, and Trump weighed whether or not to get involved. The U.S. was the only country with the plane -- the B-2 -- capable of carrying the Massive Ordnance Penetrator -- that could penetrate the mountain under which the Fordo centrifuge operation was hidden.

On Friday, Trump, who has long criticized U.S. involvement in overseas wars, said in a statement read by press secretary Karoline Leavitt that there was a "substantial chance" of negotiations. Trump gave the two-week time frame hoping Iran would "come to their senses."

The White House said last week they felt that Iran had all of the materials it needed for a nuclear weapon and could produce one in a "couple of weeks."

In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified before Congress that Iran was not "building" a nuclear bomb.

The move, which many feared would draw the U.S. into a widening conflict, came just days after Trump said that he would make a decision about hitting Iran within two weeks.