Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned Sunday that America “does not seek war” with Iran within the aftermath of a shock assault in a single day on three of that nation’s nuclear websites whereas Vice President JD Vance mentioned the strikes have given Tehran a renewed likelihood of negotiating with Washington.
The mission, referred to as “Operation Midnight Hammer,” concerned decoys and deception, and met with no Iranian resistance, Hegseth and Air Power Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, mentioned at a Pentagon information convention.
“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth added.
Caine mentioned the objective of the operation — destroying nuclear websites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan — had been achieved.
“Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine mentioned.
Vance mentioned in a tv interview that whereas he wouldn’t focus on “sensitive intelligence about what we’ve seen on the ground,” he felt “very confident that we’ve substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon.”
Pressed additional, he instructed NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time. I think that it’s going to be many many years before the Iranians are able to develop a nuclear weapon.”
The vp mentioned the U.S. had “negotiated aggressively’ with Iran to try to find a peaceful settlement and that Trump made his decision after assessing the Iranians were not acting “in good faith.”
“I truly suppose it supplies a possibility to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations and get us in a spot the place Iran can determine to not be a menace to its neighbors, to not a menace to america and in the event that they’re prepared to try this, america is all ears,” Vance mentioned.
He mentioned it could make sense for Iran to return to the negotiating desk and quit their nuclear weapons program over the long run. “If they’re willing to do that, they’re going to find a willing partner in the United States of America,” he mentioned, describing a doable likelihood of a “reset” for Tehran.
A lot of the world is absorbing the implications of the strikes and the danger that they might result in extra combating throughout the Center East after the United States inserted itself into the warfare between Israel and Iran. Airstrikes beginning on June 12 by Israel that focused Iran’s nuclear amenities and generals prompted retaliation from Iran.
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Whereas U.S. officers urged for warning and confused that solely nuclear websites have been focused by Washington, Iran criticized the actions as a violation of its sovereignty and worldwide legislation.
Iran’s international minister, Abbas Araghchi, mentioned Sunday that Washington was “fully responsible” for no matter actions Tehran might soak up response.
“They crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities,” he said at a news conference in Turkey. “I don’t know how much room is left for diplomacy.”
Each Russia and China condemned the U.S. assault. Araghchi mentioned he would journey to Moscow later Sunday to fulfill with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Turkish Overseas Ministry assertion warned concerning the threat of the battle spreading past the Center East to “a global level.”
The Pentagon briefing didn’t present any new particulars about Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Hegseth mentioned the timeline was the results of a schedule set by President Donald Trump for talks with Iran about its nuclear ambitions.
“Iran found out” that when Trump “says 60 days that he seeks peace and negotiation, he means 60 days of peace and negotiation,” Hegseth said. “Otherwise, that nuclear program, that new nuclear capability will not exist. He meant it.”
That assertion was difficult because the White Home had steered final Thursday that Trump might take as a lot as two weeks to find out whether or not to strike Iran or proceed to pursue negotiations. However the U.S. benefited from Iran’s weakened air defenses because it was in a position to conduct the assaults with out resistance from Iran.
“Iran’s fighters didn’t fly, and it seems that Iran’s floor to air missile programs didn’t see us all through the mission,” Caine mentioned.
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Hegseth mentioned {that a} alternative to maneuver a variety of B-2 bombers from their base in Missouri earlier Saturday was meant to be a decoy to throw off Iranians. He added that the U.S. used different strategies of deception as nicely, deploying fighters to guard the B-2 bombers that dropped 14 bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s web site at Fordo.
The strikes occurred Saturday between 6:40 pm and seven:05 pm in Washington, or roughly 2:10 am on Sunday in Iran.
