Top US officials have urged Iran to surrender after strikes on the nation’s nuclear sites ‘severely damaged’ its nuclear capabilities overnight.

President Trump broke his two-week deadline on Saturday night as he launched ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’, sending a fleet of B-2 bombers to key nuclear sites.

The US strikes included 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft, which targeted three critical sites.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Sunday morning press conference that the strikes were ‘bold’ and ‘brilliant’, and warned Iran that there would be dire consequences if it does not come to the negotiating table.

Officials admitted that it is ‘way too early’ to say whether Iran still retains some nuclear capabilities, with sources saying the deep underground Fordow site was not entirely destroyed in the operation.

World leaders condemned Trump’s decision to wade into the conflict, with Chinese President Xi Jinping saying Trump ‘violated’ international peace, and the UK’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urged for a de-escalation of tensions.

Iran’s foreign minister branded Trump a ‘lawless bully’ who ‘betrayed’ diplomacy after the US blew up three nuclear bases – as he warned the world has been thrown into an ‘unprecedented level of danger’.

Early Sunday morning, Iran retaliated by targeting Israel in a devastating set of attacks – with emergency services reporting at least 16 people injured.

Live updates below:

The U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites overnight involved 125 aircraft and a decoy , Pentagon officials said Sunday, as the B-2 bombers that attacked flew from Missouri while a different set of B-2s flew west over the Pacific to throw off Iran. All three sites sustained severe damage , they said, though experts said there wasn’t a reliable assessment of the damage yet.

Washington said it has sent messages to Tehran urging Iran to engage in peace talks, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday cast doubt on the short-term prospects of a diplomatic solution.

The sites hit— Fordow , Natanz and Isfahan—represent the core of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure . ​The U.S. bombers dropped bunker-busting bombs called GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators for the first time in warfare.

The latest turn in the conflict has exacerbated widespread anxieties in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman joined the head of the United Nations in condemning the U.S. strikes, reflecting fears that the exchange of fire could now spiral out of control.

U.S. forces in the region are on high alert, the Pentagon said. Iran had said it would strike at American troops if the U.S. got involved in the conflict.

Iran’s foreign minister plans to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and confer with him about next steps.

Oil futures are set to rise when trading resumes later Sunday, analysts said, with the full impact on energy markets dependent on how Iran responds to the U.S. strikes. Tanker owners are waiting to see if Iran follows through with threats to disrupt shipping at the Strait of Hormuz.

In its first missile attack since the U.S. strike, Iran injured 16 people in Israel. Emergency services were responding to at least 10 impact sites.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine attends a news conference at the Pentagon on Sunday morning. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine offered a timeline of the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, an effort codenamed “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

Midnight ET: The operation began overnight Friday into Saturday morning, Caine said at a Pentagon news conference. As B-2 bombers launched from the US, some headed west as a decoy while the rest “proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications throughout the 18-hour flight.”

Around 5 p.m. ET: Caine said a US submarine “launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets” at the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran.

As the B-2s entered Iranian airspace, the US “employed several deception tactics, including decoys, as the fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface-to-air missile threats,” Caine said.

He added that upon approach of the Natanz and Fordow facilities, the US employed “high-speed suppression weapons” with fighter aircraft to “ensure safe passage” of the B-2 bombers.

Around 6:40 p.m. ET: The lead B-2 bomber launched two massive “bunker-buster” bombs at Fordow nuclear site, Caine said, and the “remaining bombers then hit their targets.”

Those additional targets were struck, Caine said, “between 6:40 p.m. ET and 7:05 p.m. ET.”

That places the timing of these attacks around 2:10 a.m. local time in Iran on Sunday.

In total, Caine said, 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators were dropped.

Flight back to US: The US military then “began its return home,” Caine said, noting that no shots were fired by Iran at the US on the way in or out.

This post has been updated with additional details from Caine’s news conference.

11.28 pm

In the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has emphasized that Moscow supports the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the country. “We protect Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” said Putin at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. Russia’s position has not changed. Despite all adversity, Russia had built a nuclear reactor in Bushehr and signed contracts for the construction of two more reactors.

Work in Bushehr is continuing despite a certain danger and the difficult situation. “We are not evacuating our personnel from there,” said Putin, who this week put the number of Russians at the plant at 600. The president said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to ensure the safety of personnel at the Bushehr nuclear facility. US President Donald Trump was also aware of Moscow’s request for consideration for the Russian experts there.

Putin and Khamenei’s 2022: Russia maintains a close relationship with the Iranian regime. Keystone/EPA/Iranian Supreme Leader Office (Archivbild)

Putin also rejected claims that Russia is an unreliable ally of Iran. Those who claimed this or thought that Moscow could do more for Tehran were out to provoke. The Kremlin leader said that he had presented some ideas for a solution to the conflict over the nuclear program during his recent talks with the sides involved in the conflict. “If they are attractive to the sides, we will be happy,” he said, without giving details.

Russia had recently warned of US military interference in the conflict and the danger of a nuclear catastrophe if Bushehr was bombed. Moscow called for an end to the war between Israel and Iran and a return to the negotiating table.

US officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that Washington had contacted Tehran through diplomatic channels before the strikes, making clear that no further attacks were planned and that regime change was not the goal.

Israel says it was in full co-ordination with the US ahead of the assault.

Iran had warned that any American involvement risks expanding the war and has signalled it may now target US forces in the region.