USA Attacks Iranian Nuclear Sites

USA stealth bombers and a submarine directly attacked three nuclear sites in Iran, reportedly in coordination with Israel but without so much as notification of Congress.

Some Republicans in Congress were notified ahead of the attack, but Democrats among the Gang of Eight who are supposed to be looped in on such vital matters were left in the dark. The Gang of Eight are both party leaders in each chamber of Congress and both party leaders of the chambers’ intelligence committees.

The Constitution assigns the power to declare war to Congress, not the President. In 1973 Congress passed the War Powers Resolution which lends that power to the President in specific circumstances. Trump meant to cloak his action in the portion that allows him to take the USA into war when there is “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” However, “The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” If the situation requires action too quickly to involve Congress, the President must brief the Gang of Eight within 48 hours which he did not do.

The sites hit by Operation Midnight Hammer were the Fordo uranium enrichment facility which is inside a mountain, Natanz which has Iran’s first enrichment facility, and Esfahan which is involved with other aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Between 02:10am and 02:35 local time, seven B-2 bombers dropped twelve to fourteen of the USA’s stock of twenty bunker-breaking GBU-57 Massive Ordinance Penetrator bombs on two of the sites in the first combat use of the 30,000 pound weapon. No other USA military aircraft is capable of dropping a GBU-57. A USA submarine in the Arabian sea fired Tomahawk cruise missiles scheduled to reach their targets at the same time as the bombers.

Israeli attacks had thrashed Iran’s air defenses during the previous week. The USA bombers, the fighters that provided cover for them and the cruise missiles did not meet defensive fire.

By 03:00, the USA’s aircraft had left Iranian air space. About 15 minutes later, Donald Trump announced the attack by posting on his social media platform Truth Social. Somewhat later, he announced it through television, flanked by Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The attack plan was complex, including a diversion tactic of more visibly sending eight other B-2 bombers to Guam. The military has spent years planning and practicing for this, since long before Trump took office in January. Trump’s recent announcement that he would decide in the next two weeks what he would do was also probably a ruse to make it seem like an attack might be getting staged but was not imminent.

It was not clear why Trump chose to attack now, unless his timing was chosen by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or he was steaming over how pitiful his military parade looked the previous weekend in comparison with nationwide demonstrations against his government. In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Congress the intelligence community assessment was that Iran was not building a nuclear bomb. Rolling Stone reported its sources in the intelligence community had nothing new to change that assessment.

Iran was negotiating with the USA about Iran’s nuclear program as of April. The next round was due to start two days after Israel began attacking Iran on 12 June, which scuppered the negotiations.

Last Friday, Trump publicly declared Gabbard and the intelligence community wrong. A week ago Netanyahu told Fox News, “The intel we got and we shared with the United States was absolutely clear, was absolutely clear that they were working, in a secret plan to weaponize the uranium. They were marching very quickly.” No other country agrees.

Trump said that in a “spectacular military success” the targets were “totally and completely obliterated.” Later in the day, various news media reported the targets were badly damaged but not wiped out. Iran announced that it had moved its nuclear fuel stocks elsewhere before the attacks. Multiple news sources said no signs of radiation release from damaged supplies were being detected.

Trump told Iran to capitulate to his demands, including giving up its entire nuclear program. He threatened further attacks if Iran struck back at the USA or Israel.

Some of Trump’s regime tried to say the attack was a one-time action to keep Iran from having nuclear weapons, not an effort to cause regime change. Trump overrode them and goaded Iran, posting “it’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi swore the USA’s attacks will have “everlasting consequences.” He said Iran reserved its right to “all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”

Iranian state television announced that every American citizen or military member is now a “target. The US has committed a crime against Iran by violating Iran’s airspace. It has no place in the West Asian region. Mr. President of the United States, you started it and we will end it.”

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) posted on social media:

I was briefed on the intelligence last week. Iran posed no imminent threat of attack to the United States. Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon. The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the potential for success. We know—for certain—there is a diplomatic path to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. The Obama agreement was working. And as late as a week ago, Iran was back at the table again. Which makes this attack—with all its enormous risks—so reckless.

It appears that Trump’s move to supposedly prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons may cause Iran to be gifted such weapons from other countries. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev posted, “A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads.”

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