The Unites States on Saturday destroyed three Iranian nuclear facilities with missiles.
Dubbed "Operation Midnight Hammer," the U.S. military deployed stealth bombers and dropped 12 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), each weighing 30,000 pounds, to inflict damage at the nuclear sites of Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, U.S. Defense Department officials said on Sunday.
President Donald Trump said Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been "completely and totally obliterated."
"Iran, the bully of the Middle East now must make peace," the president said in an video address.
Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a Sunday morning press briefing that the MOPs were deployed for the first time in history.
In addition, a U.S. submarine also launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles at key infrastructure targets at the Isfahan site, bringing the overall total of precision-guided weapons employed during the operation to approximately 75.
"We are unaware of any shots fired at the package on the way out," Caine said. "Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us."
"The order we received from our commander in chief was focused, it was powerful and it was clear. We devastated the Iranian nuclear program," Hegseth said at the briefing.
Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. has no interest in a protracted conflict with Iran.
"We have no interest in boots on the ground," Vance said on Meet The Press on Sunday. "The President has actually been one of the fiercest critics of 25 years of failed foreign policy in the Middle East, which is why he did what he did — a very precise, a very surgical strike tailored to an American national interest.”
Vance also said the U.S. is not at war with Iran, not is it looking for regime change.
"We want to end their nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement," he said.
