U.S. Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth has revealed new details on the attacks that severely damaged three of Iran’s nuclear facilities on Saturday.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Hegseth to have said the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities “took months and weeks of positioning and preparation” to be ready when President Donald Trump gave the order.
President Trump had disclosed that the U.S. bombed Fordow, Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear facility, as well as two other sites, Natanz and Esfahan.
Speaking about the attacks at the Pentagon, US Defence Secretary disclosed that the attacks took a great deal of precision and that it involved misdirection and the highest of operational security.
“Last night, on President Trump’s orders, US Central Command conducted a precision strike in the middle of the night against three nuclear facilities in Iran: Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan in order to destroy or severely degrade Iran’s nuclear program. It was an incredible and overwhelming success.
“The order we received from our commander in chief was focused; it was powerful, and it was clear. We devastated the Iranian nuclear program. But, it is worth noting that the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people,” Hegseth said.
While appreciating Trump’s bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, the Defence Secretary said every American involved in the operation performed flawlessly.
“For the entirety of his time in office. President Trump has consistently stated for over 10 years that Iran must not get a nuclear weapon. Thanks to President Trump’s bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.
“I want to recognize the pilots who flew those bombers. Who flew those fighters. Who flew those refuelers. Warriors. I want to recognize the sailors on those destroyers, in those subs, on the carriers. Warriors. All of them.
“I want to recognise our soldiers, doing air defence, base defence, QRF. Warriors. All of the. Every American involved in this operation performed flawlessly,” Hegseth said.
He added: “This is a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and preparation so that we could be ready when the president of the United States called. It took a great deal of precision. It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security.
“Our B-2s [stealth bombers] went in and out of these nuclear sites, in and out and back of downtown Tehran without the world knowing at all. In that way, it was historic. A strike that included the largest B-2s spirit bomber mission since 2001 and the first operational employment of the MAP, a massive ordinance penetrator”.
Earlier, Trump, who spoke from the White House on Saturday night, said the objective of the strikes was to destroy Iran’s nuclear capacity and stop its nuclear threat.
“A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime Fordow Natanz and Esfahan,” Trump said.
“Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.”
The U.S. leader, who had been threatening Iran to make a “deal” about its nuclear programme, described the strikes as a huge military success.
“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.
“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier,” Trump said.
Trump warned that “there will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days”.
He stressed that there were many targets left adding, “tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.
“But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill; most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.”
Trump boasted about the superiority of the U.S. military, saying no military in the world could have done what the U.S. military did in Iran.
“There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight, not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago,” he stressed.
Trump had, earlier in a post on Truth Social, announced the bombing of the Iranian nuclear sites.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” he wrote.
“All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.
“Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his reaction to the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, hailed Trump for taking a “bold decision” on Iran.
“Congratulations President Trump, your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history,” Netanyahu posted.