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What US bombed, and what weapons were used
US Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said Operation Midnight Hammer involved 125 US military aircraft including seven B-2 stealth bombers.
Three nuclear facilities were targeted – Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, the US said.
During a Pentagon briefing, Caine said bombers set off from the US on an 18-hour flight, with some heading west into the Pacific as a “decoy”, while the main strike package made up of the seven B-2 bombers proceeded into Iran, BBC reports.
Just before the aircraft entered Iranian airspace, more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from a US submarine at targets at the Isfahan site, he said.
As the bombers entered Iranian airspace, the US deployed “several deception tactics, including decoys,” with fighter jets clearing the airspace ahead of them, checking for enemy aircraft and surface-to-air missiles, Caine said.
The lead B-2 then dropped two GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) – also known as “bunker buster” bombs – on the nuclear site at Fordo. Caine said a total of 14 MOPs were dropped on two target areas.
All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were hit between 18:40 Eastern time (23:40 BST) and 19:05 Eastern time (00:05 BST), Caine said.
The bombers then exited Iranian airspace and began their return to the US.
“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface-to-air missile systems did not see us,” Caine said.
Speaking at the same briefing, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.
He added that the mission “was not, and has not been about regime change”.
The defence secretary said he recognised “our allies in Israel” for the support given, adding that the operations took months and weeks of planning.
Hidden away in a remote mountainside, Fordo nuclear site includes a uranium enrichment plant that is vital to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Located south of Tehran, it is believed to be deeper underground than the Channel Tunnel connecting the UK and France.
Due to Fordo’s depth below ground only the US has the kind of “bunker buster” bomb big enough to penetrate the site.
It weighs 13,000kg (30,000lb) and is able to drop through about 18m (60ft) of concrete or 61m (200ft) of earth before exploding, according to experts.
Due to the depths of Fordo’s tunnels, the MOP is not guaranteed to be successful, but it is the only bomb that could come close.
Caine confirmed that between the seven B-2 Spirit bombers, 14 MOP bombs were among “75 precision-guided weapons” used in the strikes against Iran.
What is known about the impact of the attacks?
Gen Caine has said it will take some time to fully assess the extent of the damage caused by the US attack.
But, he said, “an initial battle damage assessment indicates that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction”.
New satellite imagery taken on 22 June shows six fresh craters at the Fordo nuclear site, likely the entry points for US munitions, as well as grey dust and debris scattered down the mountainside.
Following the US’s confirmation that MOPs were used in the attack, senior imagery analyst at McKenzie Intelligence Services, Stu Ray, told BBC Verify: “You will not see a huge blast effect at the entry point as it is not designed to detonate on entry but deeper down into the facility.”
He added that it looks like three separate munitions were dropped on two separate impact points, and that the grey colouration on the ground appears to show concrete debris blown out by the explosions.
Mr Ray also said the tunnel entrances appear to have been blocked off. As there are no visible craters or impact points near them, he suggests this may have been an Iranian attempt to “mitigate against deliberate targeting of the entrances by aerial bombardment”.
The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said the bombing of the three nuclear sites was a “barbaric violation” of international law.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UN’s nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say there has been no increase in radiation levels after the attack.
The deputy political director of Iran’s state broadcaster, Hassan Abedini, said Iran had evacuated these three nuclear sites a “while ago”. Appearing on state-run TV, he said Iran “didn’t suffer a major blow because the materials had already been taken out”.
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