Early on Sunday, the United States attacked three locations in Iran, stepping into Israel’s fight to weaken down the country’s nuclear program. This is a dangerous move to try to weaken a long-time rival, even though there are concerns about it leading to a bigger conflict in the region.

In a national speech from the White House, President Donald Trump stated that Iran’s key nuclear facilities were “completely and fully destroyed.” However, there was no independent assessment of the damage done.

It is still unclear if the U.S. will continue its attacks on Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a nine-day conflict with Iran. Trump moved forward without getting approval from Congress and warned that more strikes would happen if Tehran retaliated against U.S. forces. “There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,” he said.

Iran’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, warned in a post on X that the U.S. strikes “will have lasting consequences” and that Tehran “reserves all options” for retaliation.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has requested an urgent Security Council meeting to discuss what he called the U.S.’s “horrible attacks and illegal use of force” against Iran.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said that the U.N.’s most powerful body must “take all necessary actions” to hold the U.S. responsible under international law and the U.N. charter.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog later stated that there has been “no increase in off-site radiation levels” at the sites targeted by the U.S. This update was communicated by the International Atomic Energy Agency through the social media platform X.

In the early hours of Sunday, Israel warned the public about an Iranian missile launch, advising citizens to seek shelter. Shortly after, sirens blared throughout Jerusalem, followed by a series of explosive sounds.

Since the conflict began ,Iran has been firing missiles at Israel, but the amount and intensity decrease due to Israel concentrating on destroying Tehran’s missile launch sites. It’s also possible that the Islamic Republic is saving some of its weapons.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed that attacks occurred at its Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz facilities, but it insisted that its operations will continue without interruption. Iran reported no evidence of radioactive contamination at these three locations and assured that there is no danger to the nearby population.

Iran has consistently claimed that its nuclear goals are solely for peaceful purposes, and U.S. intelligence evaluations suggest that Tehran is not actively trying to develop a nuclear weapon. However, both Trump and Israeli officials have argued that Iran could quickly construct a nuclear device, presenting an immediate threat.

The decision to engage the U.S. directly in the conflict follows more than a week of Israeli strikes on Iran, aimed at dismantling the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while also damaging its nuclear enrichment infrastructure. Nevertheless, U.S. and Israeli officials have indicated that American stealth bombers, equipped with the 30,000-pound (13,500-kilogram) bunker-buster bomb, are the most effective way to destroy heavily fortified sites associated with the Iranian nuclear program, which are buried deep underground.

“We have successfully executed our operation targeting the three nuclear facilities in Iran, which include Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump stated in a social media update. “All aircraft have now exited Iranian airspace. A complete load of bombs was deployed on the main site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.”

Trump added in a subsequent post: “This marks a historic moment for the United States of America, Israel, and the global community. Iran must now agree to end this war. Thank you!”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s decision to attack in a video message directed at the American president.

“Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the awesome and righteous might of the United States, will change history,” he said. Netanyahu said the U.S. “has done what no other country on earth could do.”

Israel announced Sunday that it would close the country’s airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the U.S. attacks. The war has disrupted air travel throughout the Middle East.

The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation. U.S. military leaders are scheduled to provide a briefing at 8 a.m. Eastern.

The attack used bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant that is built deep into a mountain, a U.S. official said. The weapons are designed to penetrate the ground before exploding. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

In addition, U.S. submarines launched about 30 Tomahawk missiles, according to another U.S. official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

The strikes are a perilous decision, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if the U.S. joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally. He won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the “dangerous escalation” of American strikes.

“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said in a statement.

Trump told reporters Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran, saying it’s “the last thing you want to do.” He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States on Wednesday that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.” And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared “any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.”

Trump has vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, and he had initially hoped that the threat of force would bring the country’s leaders to give up its nuclear program peacefully.

The Israeli military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran’s foreign minister warned before the U.S. attack that American military involvement “would be very, very dangerous for everyone.”

The prospect of a wider war loomed. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joined Israel’s military campaign. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the U.S.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump planned to make his decision on the strikes within two weeks. Instead, he struck just two days later.

Trump appears to have made the calculation — at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republican lawmakers — that Israel’s operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran’s nuclear program, perhaps permanently.
The Israelis say their offensive has already crippled Iran’s air defenses, allowing them to significantly degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites.

But to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, Israel appealed to Trump for the bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. The bomb is currently delivered only by the B-2 stealth bomber, which is only found in the American arsenal.

It was the first combat use of the weapon.

The bomb carries a conventional warhead, and is believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility.

Previous Israeli strikes at another Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, on a centrifuge site have caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area, the IAEA has said.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 865 people and wounded 3,396 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists. The group said of those dead, it identified 363 civilians and 215 security force personnel.

Trump’s decision for direct U.S. military intervention comes after his administration made an unsuccessful two-month push — including with high-level, direct negotiations with the Iranians — aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear program.

For several months, Trump has highlighted his commitment to a diplomatic initiative aimed at convincing Iran to abandon its nuclear aspirations. On two distinct occasions — once in April and again in late May — he successfully urged Netanyahu to postpone military action against Iran, placing diplomacy at the forefront.

Throughout this period, Trump transitioned from publicly expressing optimism that this could serve as a “second chance” for Iran to secure an agreement, to issuing direct threats against Khamenei and insisting on Tehran’s unconditional capitulation.

The looming military confrontation with Iran arises seven years after Trump withdrew the United States from the accord brokered by the Obama administration in 2018, which he labeled as the “worst deal ever.”

The 2015 pact, signed by Iran, the U.S., and other global powers, established a long-term, comprehensive nuclear framework that restricted Tehran’s uranium enrichment in return for the alleviation of economic sanctions.

Trump condemned the Obama-era agreement for conceding too much to Iran while providing inadequate benefits, as it failed to address Iran’s non-nuclear detrimental activities.

Trump has reacted strongly to backlash from some of his MAGA supporters who have claimed that increased U.S. involvement would betray those who were attracted to his pledge to end U.S. engagement in costly and ongoing conflicts.

Madhani reported from Morristown, N.J. Rising reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Iran; Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Samy Magdy in Cairo; Matthew Lee and Josh Boak in Washington; and Farnoush Amiri and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.