What we know about US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities

US President Donald Trump said the US military had finished strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran, marking significant escalation in the current war between Iran and Israel.

“We have finished our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, notably Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan. All the planes are now outside Iran Air Space,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump added that a “complete bombs” was abandoned, an enrichment factory hidden in a distant mountain flank which is vital for Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Israeli officials say they were in “complete coordination” with the United States in planning these strikes.

Iran could react by targeting American military assets in the region. His officials had previously warned that they would retaliate and that any American attack risked a regional war.

Here is a ventilation of what we know so far.

Israel launched a surprise attack on dozens of Iranian nuclear and military targets on June 13. He said that his ambition was to dismantle his nuclear program, which according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, could soon produce a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. In retaliation, Tehran has launched hundreds of rockets and drones to Israel. The two countries have continued to exchange strikes since, in an air war that has now lasted more than a week.

Trump has long declared that he was opposed to Iran with a nuclear weapon.

In March, the national director of American intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that if Iran had increased its stock of uranium at unprecedented levels, it did not build a nuclear weapon – an assessment which, according to Trump, was “wrong”.

On the campaign track, President Trump had criticized the American administrations spent for engaging in “endless stupid wars” in the Middle East, and he promised to keep America outside foreign conflicts.

The United States and Iran were in nuclear talks at the time of Israel’s surprise attack. Two days ago, President Trump said that he would give Iran for two weeks to conclude substantial negotiations before hitting – but this calendar turned out to be a lot, much shorter.

One of the United States has attacked was a secret nuclear site called Fordo. It is hidden in a mountainside south of Tehran and would be deeper underground than the chain tunnel connecting the United Kingdom and France.

The Uranium enrichment site is considered by experts to be vital for Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The depth of Fordo below the surface of the earth made it difficult to involve the weapons of Israel. Only the United States was considered to have a solid “Bunker Buster” bomb large enough to destroy Fordo.

This American bomb is called massive GBU-57 Ordnce Petrator (MOP). It weighs 13,000 kg (30,000 lb) and is able to penetrate around 18 m of concrete or 61 m of earth before exploding, according to experts.

We think that the Fordo tunnels are 80 m to 90 m below the surface, so the mop is not guaranteed to succeed, but it is the only bomb that could get closer.

US officials have confirmed to the BBC CBS News partner that the MOPS were used in the strikes, with two for each target.

It is not yet known what damage The American attack has suffered on nuclear enrichment facilities, or if there are injuries or victims.

The deputy political director of the Iranian state diffuser, Hassan Abedini, said that Iran has evacuated these three nuclear sites there is “something”.

Appearing on television managed by the State, he said that Iran “had not suffered hard because the equipment had already been removed”.

Iran said that more than 200 people had been killed since the start of its last series of fighting with Israel, and more than 1,200 injured.

Meanwhile, Israel accelerates security following American attacks against Iran’s main nuclear sites.

Israel has tightened its public security restrictions across the country, said Israeli Defense forces (FDI).

Upgrading – including a “ban on education activities, gatherings and workplaces” – comes after the United States has hit Iran.

Iran has been considerably weakened by Israel’s attacks against its military bases so far, according to experts, as well as by the dismantling of its regional proxies in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Syria and Gaza (Hamas). But Iran is always able to do a lot of damage.

Iranian officials have warned the United States not to get involved, saying that it would undergo “irreparable damage” and that it risked a “total war” in the region.

He threatened to target American bases in the region in retaliation. The United States operates military sites in at least 19 regions in the Middle East, notably in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Among the most obvious targets for Iran is the 5th seat of the US Navy fleet in Mina Salman in Bahrain.

It could also target a critical shipping route known as Detroit d’Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and through which 30% of the world’s oil supply is transported. He could also attack on other sea routes that may destabilize the world markets.

Iran could also target the assets of neighboring countries it perceives to help the United States, which risks war on the whole region.

Under the American law, the president does not have the only power to officially declare war on another country. Only the congress – the legislators elected to the House of Representatives and in the Senate – can.

But the law also stipulates that the president is the commander -in -chief of the armed forces. This means that he can deploy American troops and carry out military operations without declaration of official war.

For example, Trump’s decision to carry out air strikes in Syria in 2017 against the Assad regime did not require the approval of the congress. Instead, Trump acted unilaterally, citing reasons of national and humanitarian security.

Certain legislators on both sides of the aisle have recently tried to limit Trump’s ability to order American strikes on Iran by pushing a resolution of war powers across the Congress, although it can take weeks before it was put to an official vote, and such measures are more symbolic than substantial.