The US has changed the course of the conflict – how will Iran respond?

1 hour ago Share Save Jo Floto Middle East bureau chief Reporting from Jerusalem Share Save

Trump says Iran must make peace or face future attacks after US strikes

As Benjamin Netanyahu stood at the podium in the Israeli prime minister’s office this morning, he did not at first address the Israeli people in Hebrew, to update them on the latest, dramatic development in this, his latest war. Instead he spoke in English, speaking directly to, and lavishing praise upon, US President Donald Trump after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites. If Netanyahu’s tone was triumphant, and the smile barely suppressed, it is hardly surprising. He has spent most of his political career obsessed with the threat he believes Iran poses to Israel. Netanyahu has spent much of the last 15 years attempting to persuade his American allies that only military action (and only American munitions) could destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. While congratulating Trump for a bold decision that “will change history”, Netanyahu can also congratulate himself on changing the mind of a US president who campaigned against overseas military adventures, and whose supporters were overwhelmingly opposed to joining Israel’s war against Iran. Follow live updates It should also be noted that Trump’s own intelligence agencies had not shared Israel’s assessment of how quickly Iran could seek to build a nuclear weapon, nor indeed whether it had taken the decision to do so. Throughout this conflict, which began just 10 days ago, Israel’s government and military have insisted that Israel had the capacity to deal with the Iranian threat on its own. But it was no secret that only America possessed the massive ordnance capable of dealing with the strongest levels of protection around Iran’s nuclear facilities, particularly at Fordo, built deep inside a mountain. If the nuclear sites bombed last night are now indeed out of use then Israel’s prime minister will be able to declare his main war aim complete, perhaps bringing this conflict closer to an end. For its part, Iran says it had already moved its nuclear material out.

But without last night’s bombing, Israel would have continued working its way down the long list of targets its air force has spent years drawing up. Damage would continue to have been inflicted on the Iranian military, on its commanders, on nuclear scientists, on government infrastructure and on the parts of the nuclear programme accessible to Israel’s bombs. But Netanyahu may have been denied a clear point at which Israel could say the nuclear threat had been definitively neutralised. Perhaps only regime change in Iran could have delivered that moment. The B2 bombers have undoubtedly changed the trajectory of the war. Whether it escalates even further will depend on how Iran and its allies respond. Last week Iran’s supreme leader had vowed to hit back at the US were it to enter the war. “The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.

EPA Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said a US military intervention would cause “irreparable damage”

Trump calls US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities ‘spectacular success’

3 hours ago Share Save Ana Faguy BBC News, Washington DC Share Save

Reuters

President Donald Trump called the bombing of three nuclear facilities in Iran a “spectacular military success”. He called on Iran to quickly bring peace or said the US would go after other targets with “speed” and “precision”. “This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House. Israel initially attacked Iran earlier this month, while the Americans and the Iranians were in nuclear talks. Trump urged Iran to continue negotiations, but on Saturday he went ahead with strikes.

Appearing alongside Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump boasted of the mission’s success. “Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said. “Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” The Iranians have not yet said exactly what damage the strikes, which occurred in the middle of the night, caused. We do not know the full extent of the damage. The bombing marked the first time since the Iranian Revolution in1979 that the US sent troops into Iran to strike facilities inside the country. Using “bunker buster bombs”, the GBU-57A Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the US struck Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan in the middle of the night local time. During his remarks, Trump described the three targets as the “most difficult” and said that if peace does not “come quickly” the US will go after other sites. “Remember, there are many targets left,” Trump said. “Tonight was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal.” Trump announced the strikes Saturday evening in a post on Truth Social after all US planes were out of Iranian air space. The US reached out to Iran “diplomatically” on Saturday to say the strikes are all it plans to do and that “regime change efforts are not planned”, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

US moves stealth bombers as it considers military action against Iran – reports

10 hours ago Share Save Max Matza BBC News Share Save

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The US military has sent American B-2 stealth bombers to the US island territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, US media report. The large jets are considered to be the only aircraft capable of carrying weapons that can strike Iran’s most secure nuclear facility, which is buried deep underground below a mountain. US officials have not commented on whether the deployment is linked to the conflict in the Middle East. The deployment has not been independently confirmed by the BBC. On Friday, Trump said he would give Iran a maximum of two weeks to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme in order to prevent US strikes.

The planes are reportedly being sent to Guam from the US state of Missouri. While the deployment is not being officially connected to discussions around the US joining Israel’s war on Iran, few will doubt the link. The huge planes, which have wingspans of more than 50 metres, are the only aircraft capable of carrying the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000lb (13,608kg) bunker-busting bomb that experts say is required to destroy Iran’s deep nuclear facility at Fordo. The facility is thought to be buried around 100m below the surface, protected by reinforced concrete. Despite their overwhelming aerial superiority, Israel lacks the munitions to damage the facility, hence requiring US support.

What do we know about the Fordo nuclear site?

Around 9,500km (5,900m) to the east of Fordo, Guam is maybe not the most obvious base from which to launch any attack. There had also been speculation that the UK facility, Diego Garcia, which is twice as close to Iran than Guam, might be used as a staging post. That would have caused a potential political and diplomatic headache for the British government, as they would have to give their blessing to any US attack, which might in turn make UK bases a target for Iranian retaliation. It is unclear why Guam was reportedly chosen as a destination for the bombers. US officials told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that it is thought that the Guam base would provide better operational secrecy than Diego Garcia.

Last week, at least 30 US military planes were moved from the US to Europe, according to flight tracking data reviewed by the BBC. The planes in question are all US military tanker aircraft used to re-fuel fighter jets and bombers. According to Flightradar24, at least seven of these – all KC-135s – stopped off in US airbases in Spain, Scotland and England. The jet movements come amid reports that the US has also moved an aircraft carrier – the USS Nimitz – from the South China Sea towards the Middle East. The Nimitz carries a contingent of fighter jets and is escorted by several guided missile destroyers. The US has also moved F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter jets to bases in the Middle East, three defence officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The tanker planes moved to Europe over the past several days can be used to re-fuel these jets. With additional reporting by BBC Verify

Trump leaves door open for further attacks

Hugo Bachega

Middle East correspondent

In a dramatic move, the US has joined Israel in its attacks on Iran, carrying out large-scale strikes on three key nuclear facilities, Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, with President Trump saying they were “completely and totally obliterated”.

He warned Iran that it “must now make peace”, otherwise “future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier”.

What happens next?

Iran and its proxies had threatened to target US interests in the region in response to any direct American involvement in the conflict.

Its military capabilities, however, are significantly damaged after nine days of attacks, and the groups it supports, part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, have also been weakened.

Any retaliation could lead to more US attacks, as President Trump left the door open for further action: “Remember there are many targets left”.

Trump’s Iran gamble fraught with risk – at home and abroad

2 hours ago Share Save Anthony Zurcher North America correspondent Share Save

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Donald Trump, the president who returned to the White House in January promising to be a “peacemaker”, has taken a dramatic step to insert the US into the fraught conflict between Iran and Israel. Far from bringing peace to the Middle East since taking office, Trump is now presiding over a region on the precipice of even greater warfare – a fight in which America is an active participant. In a televised address to the nation from the White House just over two hours after announcing on social media that American forces had struck three nuclear sites in Iran, the American president said the operation had been a “spectacular success”. He expressed hope that his move would open the door to a more lasting peace where Iran no longer had the potential to become a nuclear power. Follow latest on US strike on Iran

What we know about US strikes on Iran Iran has said that there was only minor damage to its heavily fortified Fordo nuclear site. Time will tell which side is correct. Flanked by Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump warned Iran that if they did not abandon their nuclear programme, they would face future attacks that were “far worse and a lot easier”. There were “many targets left”, Trump said, and the US would go after them with “speed, precision and skill”. Despite the president’s bravado, a continued American military engagement in Iran may be a worst-case scenario for the US, the region and the world. UN Secretary General António Guterres warned of a “spiral of chaos” that could result from the American decision to escalate the conflict, noting that the Middle East was already “on edge”. If Iran retaliates – as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned would happen in the event of a US attack – then the American side may feel compelled to respond.

‘Two weeks’ became two days

Trump’s rhetoric earlier this week that Iran had to “unconditionally surrender” had put the president in a position where it would be difficult for him to back down. Iran, with its own threats, had backed itself into a similar corner. This is how wars start – and how they can expand beyond the control, and imaginations, of those involved. On Thursday, Donald Trump gave the Iranians a two-week deadline but that turned out to be much shorter than expected – just two days. On Saturday night, the US president announced he had acted. Was the two weeks for negotations a feint? A bid to lure the Iranians into a false sense of security this weekend? Or did behind-the-scenes negotiations led by Trump’s designated peacemaker Steve Witkoff collapse?

In the immediate aftermath of the strikes, little is known. But in his social media post and in his televised address, Trump tried to open the door for peace. That may be an optimistic outlook, however. While the Israelis have made considerable efforts toward degrading Iran’s military capabilities, the ayatollah still has weapons at his disposal. Things could get messy fast. Now the waiting game begins. How will Iran respond to attacks on three of its sites, including Fordo, seen as the crown jewel of its nuclear programme? Trump appears to be hoping the US strikes force Iran to make greater concessions at the negotiating table, but it seems unlikely that a nation unwilling to talk while under Israeli attack will be more inclined when American bombs are also falling. And while Trump seemed to be implying that the US attack was a singular, successful event, if that’s not the case, then the pressure to strike again will grow – or the president will have taken a serious political risk for minimal military gain.

‘Peacemaker’ president risks political blowback