From the New York Times, June 21:
Strikes on three sites, including Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear installation, injected the U.S. directly into Israel’s war. Mr. Trump was expected to speak from the White House at 10 p.m.
Here are the latest developments.
The United States has entered Israel’s war against Iran.
American warplanes dropped bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran, President Trump announced on Saturday night, bringing the U.S. military directly into the war after days of uncertainty about whether he would intervene.
“All planes are now outside of Iran air space,” he said in a post on social media, adding that a “full payload” of bombs had been dropped on Fordo, the heavily fortified underground facility in Iran that is critical to its nuclear program. “All planes are safely on their way home.”
The three sites that Mr. Trump said were hit on Sunday morning included Iran’s two major uranium enrichment centers: the mountain facility at Fordo and a larger enrichment plant at Natanz, which Israel struck several days ago with smaller weapons. The third site, near the ancient city of Isfahan, is where Iran is believed to keep its near-bomb-grade enriched uranium, which inspectors saw just two weeks ago.
Three senior Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said that they believed American forces had bombed Fordo and Natanz at around 2.30 a.m. on Sunday in Iran.
Mr. Trump said that he would give an address to the nation at 10 p.m. E.S.T. from the White House.
Iran, which has refrained so far from direct attacks on U.S. troops and interests in the Middle East, has warned that American entry into war would bring retaliation, raising fears around the region about the danger of a widening war. But what form that response would take is unclear. Analysts have also speculated that Iran could react by accelerating its nuclear program — assuming the program survives U.S. bombing.
After a week of mixed signals, President Trump, who has long vowed to steer America clear of overseas “forever wars,” authorized U.S. forces to strike Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear installation, deep underground. The goal, American and Israeli officials have said, is to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
Israel and Iran, sworn enemies for decades, have been exchanging attacks since June 13, when the Israelis launched a surprise assault that targeted Iranian infrastructure, including nuclear installations, and military leaders. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation had no choice but to act if it wanted to stave off a nuclear “holocaust.”
Iran responded with missile barrages of its own, as well as offers to resume negotiations over its nuclear development program.
Just days ago, the Trump administration officials appeared intent on distancing itself from the conflict. But Mr. Trump, when he was not urging peace talks, began sounding increasingly belligerent.
On Tuesday, he went so far as to make a direct threat against Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying “Our patience is growing thin.”
This week, when asked about assessments by U.S. intelligence agencies and his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, that Iran was not actively working toward a nuclear weapon, Mr. Trump said flatly that they were wrong. Iran, he insisted, was months — if not weeks — away from being able to produce a bomb.
Here is what else to know:
What’s next? Now that Mr. Trump has sent American bombers to help Israel destroy a uranium enrichment facility in Iran, it will most likely initiate a more dangerous phase in the war. Here are some ways that could play out, and a look at how the U.S. military’s powerful bunker-busting bombs work.
Saturday strikes: Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against missile sites, a nuclear facility and munitions storage sites in Iran, while Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles and launched drones into Israel.
Evacuations: The U.S. Department of State has begun evacuating Americans from Israel, said the American ambassador, Mike Huckabee. In a post on social media, he encouraged Americans in Israel and the West Bank to fill out a form requesting evacuation, which could be by cruise ship, commercial flight, charter flight or a flight operated by the U.S. government.
....MUCH MORE, they are live-blogging and will be updating.
