WASHINGTON – The United States has officially released details of its overnight military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
In a press conference, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Cane briefed the media on the scale and precision of the operation.
Defense Secretary Hegseth declared the mission a success, stating, “The United States has destroyed Iran’s nuclear program. We have consistently said we will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons — a stance President Trump has repeatedly emphasized.”
Hegseth praised the performance of US personnel involved in the attack on the Fordow nuclear plant, calling their execution “exceptional,” and affirmed that Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been “buried.”
He warned that any Iranian retaliation would provoke a response “even stronger than last night’s operation.” He also confirmed that no Iranian soldiers or civilians were harmed in the strike.
General Cane revealed that the attack was codenamed “Operation Midnight Hammer”, a highly classified mission known to only a select few. He detailed that more than 125 US aircraft, including 7 B-2 stealth bombers, were deployed — marking the largest use of B-2 bombers in US history.
A total of 75 precision-guided munitions were used in the operation, including 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, marking their first combat use. The B-2 bombers flew from the US late Friday night, splitting west and east for strategic secrecy, and refueled multiple times mid-air during the 18-hour mission.
Prior to the bombers’ entry into Iranian airspace, a US submarine launched Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting several installations in Isfahan.
At 2:10 AM Iranian time, the first B-2 dropped two GBU-57 bombs on the Fordow nuclear facility, followed by strikes on other key sites in Isfahan and Natanz. The entire operation lasted approximately 25 minutes.
General Cane confirmed that all three targeted facilities sustained severe damage, adding that Iranian air defenses failed to detect the US aircraft and did not engage. “What the US military achieved in Iran last night is something no other force in the world could have done,” he said.
He concluded that US forces remain on high alert amid ongoing regional tensions.
