On June 21, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced that American planes targeted and bombed three Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan, with Fordow receiving the “full payload” as the primary target. Trump declared that “now is the time for peace” and stated that the planes evacuated Iranian airspace safely.

In a subsequent national address, Trump declared the strikes “a spectacular military success” and stated that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” Trump characterized the objective as “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.” The President warned that “if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,” declaring that “future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” Trump thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating they “worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before.”

On June 22, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth provided additional details on the operation, characterizing the military action as signaling a return of “American deterrence” and warning that “when [Trump] speaks, the world should listen and the U.S. Military, we can back it up.” Hegseth warned that “any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed.”

Democratic congressional leaders condemned the attack, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies releasing a statement criticizing the unilateral military action and warning that “the risk of war has now dramatically increased”. Jefferies argued that Trump failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force.

The US bombing represents an escalation of a decades-long buildup of hostilities between the US, Israel, and Iran over concerns about the prospect of Iran developing nuclear weapons. The action follows Israel’s June 13 airstrikes against Iran that targeted senior military personnel and nuclear scientists, killing hundreds including civilians. Iran had responded with retaliatory strikes against Israel.

The Obama administration’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action lifted certain sanctions in exchange for Iran’s commitment to limit nuclear research to peaceful uses, but the first Trump administration reimposed sanctions in 2018. While the Biden administration attempted to restore the nuclear deal in 2022, Iran refused to reenter the agreement, relying on a 2020 law implementing high-uranium enrichment policies regardless of international sanctions. Iran’s hardline stance was prompted by the 2020 US assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, which led Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to pledge “forceful revenge” against the United States.