At 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, President Donald Trump confirmed that U.S. B-2 stealth bombers had penetrated Iranian airspace overnight and delivered precision strikes on multiple nuclear enrichment facilities—marking the first direct American military action targeting Iran’s nuclear program since the conflict with Israel escalated.
Trump said the strikes were “massive” and necessary to prevent the world’s most dangerous regime from acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons.
The United States and its military had completed a strike unprecedented in history and that no other military can achieve, Trump declared in a televised address from the Oval Office, arguing that Iran had sought the destruction of Israel and America, and killed many U.S. soldiers.
The president’s remarks confirmed what international observers and Israeli defense officials had begun to piece together in the early hours of Saturday in the Middle East: that American forces had joined Israel’s rapidly expanding campaign to dismantle the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and military infrastructure—a move with historic ramifications for the balance of power in the region and for global security.
This attack, while narrowly focused on nuclear targets, may mark a broader inflection point in the strategic landscape of what some U.S. defense analysts call the “CRINK” war—referring to the de facto alliance of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
This morning Mike Gallagher, the former chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and now a national security adviser, said the strike marked a return to credible power projection.
“Deterrence comes from dominant force and the willingness to use it,” he posted to X. “Last night, President Trump took a critical step toward restoring deterrence in the Middle East and around the world.”
According to senior U.S. defense officials, the strikes involved a small number of stealth bombers supported by aerial refueling tankers and surveillance aircraft operating from bases in the Middle East and Europe. The targets included Iran’s deeply buried Natanz uranium enrichment complex and secondary facilities near Arak and Fordow.
Of these, Fordow is considered Iran’s most fortified nuclear site—tunneled into a mountainside near the holy city of Qom and designed to survive conventional airstrikes. Reaching it requires specialized bunker-penetrating munitions. Only the United States possesses weapons capable of striking such hardened targets: most likely the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000-pound bomb built to bore through hundreds of feet of reinforced rock and concrete. Defense sources say multiple sequential detonations would be required to break through the mountain’s layers and disable the underground enrichment halls.
Early satellite imagery and Iranian state media appeared to corroborate the targeting of Natanz, reporting heavy damage and widespread power disruptions across the site and adjacent military compounds. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement vowing retaliation but acknowledged that “enemy aircraft penetrated undetected and struck sensitive infrastructure.”
The United States, by committing its own strategic assets to destroy critical Iranian military infrastructure, has gained the initiative in what could be seen as the first true strategic victory for the West in World War III—a long, undeclared conflict characterized by economic warfare, proxy combat, gray-zone cyber operations, and regional insurgencies. The Pentagon and White House now face critical choices that could significantly shape the remainder of this century.
The strike could come at a high cost, but also could deliver epoch-shifting, decisive strategic benefits. Iran supplies drones to Russia, subsidizes oil to China, and provides weapons to terrorist actors that threaten U.S. bases and allies from the Gulf to the Mediterranean, military and intelligence analysts argue. Its defeat would damage the CRINK axis, remove a key enabler of great power revisionism, and restore American leverage after years of attritional conflict.
Trump’s language Saturday night suggested he may favor such a path.
In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the American action as “a decisive blow against the terror regime in Tehran.” In a national address hours after the U.S. confirmation, Netanyahu said, “This is not just Israel’s fight—the free world has acted.”
Israeli media reported that the Israeli Air Force had provided electronic warfare support and real-time intelligence for the U.S. strikes, though officials declined to confirm operational details. In Tel Aviv, civilians remained under heightened alert, but there were signs of cautious optimism. “The alliance between Israel and the United States is at full strength,” one senior Israeli official told local media. “We have shifted the strategic calculus in the region.”
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council convened an emergency session overnight. Government officials condemned the strikes as an act of war and said Tehran would respond “at a time and place of our choosing.” As of Sunday morning EST, no immediate missile launches had been detected. However, Western intelligence agencies were monitoring known Iranian proxy forces in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen for signs of mobilization.
On Iranian social media channels, state-linked accounts circulated images of damaged facilities alongside calls for retaliatory “martyrdom operations” against U.S. and Israeli targets.
The joint U.S.-Israeli operation followed weeks of escalating hostilities, beginning with Israeli airstrikes deep inside Iranian territory that disabled radar arrays, weapons depots, and drone launch sites. Iranian retaliation—including missile and drone attacks on Israeli cities—prompted increasingly urgent warnings from Western capitals that the situation risked spiraling into open regional war.
In Tehran, BBC correspondents reported a rare mix of panic and defiance among civilians. Some feared a full-scale war was imminent. Others expressed anger at their government for failing to protect key military and nuclear assets.
European leaders called for restraint. In an interview late Saturday night EST, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the strike as “a painful but necessary step.” French officials warned of “a dangerous path toward uncontrollable conflict.”
In Washington, current and former intelligence officials said the operation signaled a fundamental shift in U.S. posture.
The Pentagon later confirmed the deployment of additional U.S. forces to the region, including carrier strike groups and long-range missile defense batteries.
Whether the operation succeeds in deterring Iran from restarting its nuclear weapons program—or sparks a wider war in the Middle East—remains uncertain. What is clear is that the seismic shift beneath Fordow began in Iran, but its aftershocks are now reverberating through the war rooms of Beijing and Moscow.
Editor’s Note: The first version of this story was updated to paraphrase President Trump’s remarks, and add a comment from former senator and CCP committee leader Mike Gallagher.
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Florida authorities have recovered 60 “critically missing” children in a two-week operation across the Tampa Bay area. The joint state and federal effort, dubbed Operation Dragon Eye, led to eight arrests and uncovered new human trafficking investigations.
Key Details:
The children, aged 9 to 17, were found across Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties. The operation was carried out with help from the U.S. Marshals, state prosecutors, and local police departments.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier confirmed eight individuals were arrested on charges including human trafficking, child endangerment, and drug-related offenses. Additional investigations are underway.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) hailed the operation as the most successful child recovery effort in U.S. history, declaring, “Florida doesn’t look the other way — we hunt predators and bring kids home.”
🚨 MAJOR BREAKING: U.S. Marshals and Florida officials announce LARGEST single child rescue operation in American history.
Over 2 weeks, 60 KIDS are safe, in custody.
This involved over 20 agencies and 100+ people. 8 people were arrested, charged with human trafficking, child… pic.twitter.com/trkcFMhtmX
Over a two-week span, law enforcement agencies across Florida joined forces for what’s being called a historic child recovery mission. Dubbed Operation Dragon Eye, the coordinated effort led to the rescue of 60 critically missing children—some as young as 9 years old—in the Tampa Bay region, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties.
According to Fox 13, federal and state agencies worked alongside local law enforcement, with direct involvement from the U.S. Marshals Service and Florida prosecutors. The term “critically missing,” as defined by the Marshals Service, applies to minors facing heightened threats such as exposure to violent crime, sexual exploitation, substance abuse, or domestic violence.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier praised the operation’s success in a statement posted to social media Monday. “We will keep fighting evil head-on and bringing accountability to those who harm children,” he said, confirming eight suspects had been taken into custody, with additional investigations now underway related to human trafficking networks.
Charges filed against the arrested individuals include human trafficking, child endangerment, custodial interference, and drug possession.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement described the effort as “the most successful missing child recovery operation in American history.” In a statement, the agency said its analysts and field agents “were proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. Marshals” and emphasized that “Florida doesn’t look the other way.”
Several nonprofits and local support groups played a vital role in caring for the recovered children, including More Too Life, the Children’s Home Network, Bridging Freedom, Bridges of Hope, Family Support Services of Pasco and Pinellas, and Redefining Refuge.
Dr. Katherine Gomez of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice said many of these children had felt hopeless and alone. “Oftentimes these young people have felt like there’s no one in their corner. They feel abandoned… like they have to look out for themselves because no one else will,” she told WFLA.
FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass acknowledged the emotional toll such operations take on officers, who are exposed to the trauma these children endure. “They have to see everything that happens to these children, and we need to pray for them because they had to take that burden home,” he said.
Glass added that while the operation struck a major blow to human trafficking in the region, the threat remains. “The fight isn’t over.”
U.S. Marshal Bill Berger of the Middle District of Florida warned that traffickers often return to their victims if not apprehended. “If the offenders are not apprehended, they will reconnect with these children. They are, in my opinion, leeches,” Berger stated.
Officials vowed continued vigilance to keep predators behind bars and ensure every vulnerable child is found and protected.
Hours after Iran launched retaliatory strikes against the U.S. for striking its three key nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Iran.
The president touted the deal as a “complete and total ceasefire” in a Truth Social post Monday afternoon.
Trump spent the afternoon with his national security team; it is unclear if the meeting was used to iron out the ceasefire details.
“CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED! Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World,” Trump wrote.
“During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR.’ This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel! God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!” Trump concluded.
As the president mentioned in his post, the conflict, or war, began June 12 after Iran rejected negotiations to cease its enrichment of weapons-grade nuclear material. Israel launched targeted attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Israel and the U.S. maintained that Iran was merely weeks from building nuclear weapons, thus endangering Israel and the Middle East.
The two countries exchanged a barrage of missiles, with Israel eventually gaining air superiority over Iran.
A turning point in the conflict came Saturday night when the U.S. launched strikes, called Operation Midnight Hammer. The strikes “obliterated” — in Trump’s words — Iran’s top three nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
B-2 stealth bombers out of Whiteman Airforce Base in Missouri were used to drop several 30,000-pound bunker busters to destroy Fordow and Natanz. At the same time, dozens of Tomahawk missiles fired from a submarine were used to destroy Isfahan.
On Monday, Iran launched over a dozen missiles targeting the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The attack was thwarted, and no injuries were reported. In a social media post following the strike, the president brushed off the attack, claiming Iran needed to blow off steam. He indicated the U.S. received prior notice of the attack, allowing them to prepare.
