CNN
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President Donald Trump announced on Saturday evening that US military forces had dropped bombs at three Iranian nuclear facilities, taking part in Israel’s campaign against Tehran, and ending a week-long deliberation period on intensifying the US into a Middle Eastern conflict.
“We have completed a very successful attack on three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordou, Natanz and Esfahan. All planes are currently outside of Iran’s airspace,” Trump writes of the true society.
Trump added, “The full payload of the bomb has been dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”
He finished his message with a call for peace.
“There is no other army in the world where this could have been done,” Trump wrote. “Now is the time of peace!”
In a subsequent post, the president announced that he would address the nation at 10pm on Saturday.
“This is a historic moment in the United States, Israel and the world. Iran must now agree to end this war. Thank you!” Trump wrote in the Truth Social Post. He also reposted a social media post saying, “Fordow is gone.”
The decision to target Iran directly erupts tensions and becomes one of the most important choices for Trump’s young second presidency. The debate on whether to target Iran has directly split Trump’s political coalition, but concerns that are high among some members of intervening Republican bases could drag the United States into a new, long-term conflict.
This is the first time in decades since the Iranian revolution, since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the first time the US president has deployed air force assets to target major facilities in the country.
According to sources familiar with the issue, an American B-2 bomber was used for operation to target three sites.
The B-2 bomber is the only plane capable of carrying large ordinance intruders, and experts highlight it as the only type of bomb that could destroy Iran’s underground Foder nuclear facilities. Each B-2 bomber can carry two of these “bunkerbuster” bombs, each weighing an impressive 30,000 pounds.
In particular, the move to target the Fordow facility, which successive US presidents have considered but ultimately opposed, will insert Trump directly into the growing crisis that he once wanted to temper diplomacy.
The US gave Israel heads up on the strike before launching them, two officials familiar with the issue told CNN. Prime Minister Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Saturday evening after the strike, two White House officials said.
As Trump was pondering his decision, Iran vowed to retaliate against the US invasion, and American military assets began to gather on a large scale in the region to prepare for retaliatory actions from Iran.
Trump hopes that the strike will return Tehran to negotiations and that he does not plan additional US actions within Iran as he is now pressing Iranian leaders to “agree to end this war.”
Over the past few days, Trump has come to believe that US troops are needed to take away Iran’s highly fortified nuclear facilities, and has determined that diplomacy remains at a dead end.
Trump continues to have hope that diplomacy can progress, but the US forces in the region are being prepared for Iran’s retaliation.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Alayna Treene and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.