The Latest: US strikes 3 Iranian sites, joining Israeli air campaign

The U.S. military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel ’s effort to decapitating the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.

The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-lb. bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.

President Donald Trump was the first to disclose the strikes. There was no immediate acknowledgment from the Iranian government. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that attacks targeted the country’s Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. The agency did not elaborate.

Here is the latest:

Israeli officials lauded the strikes

Israeli officials lauded the strikes in sweeping and dramatic language. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, thanked Trump and said the strikes marked a “decisive moment between the axis of terror and evil and the axis of hope.”

Israel’s defense minister congratulated Trump on what he described as a “historic decision.”

US steps up efforts to evacuate citizens from Israel

The U.S. is stepping up evacuation flights for American citizens from Israel to Europe and continuing to draw down its staff at diplomatic missions in Iraq as fears of Iranian retaliation again U.S. interests in the Middle East grow.

Even before those airstrikes were announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday evening in Washington, the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem announced the start of evacuation flights for American civilians from Israel.

Sixty-seven American citizens left Israel on two government flights bound for Athens, Greece on Saturday and four more evacuation flights to Athens were planned for Sunday, according to an internal State Department document seen by The Associated Press.

In addition to the flights, a cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 American citizens, including several hundred Jewish youngsters who had been visiting Israel on an organized tour, arrived in Cyprus, according to the document.

— Matthew Lee

Israel closes airspace in wake of US attacks

Israel’s Airport Authority announced it was closing the country’s airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.

The agency said it was shutting down air traffic “due to recent developments” and did not say for how long.

Iran says ‘no signs of contamination’ after US strikes nuclear facilities

Iran said early Sunday there were “no signs of contamination” at its nuclear sites at Isfahan, Fordo and Natanz after U.S. airstrikes targeted the facilities.

Iranian state media quoted the country’s National Nuclear Safety System Center, which published a statement saying its radiation detectors had recorded no radioactive release after the strikes.

“There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,” the statement added.

Earlier Israeli airstrikes on nuclear sites similarly have caused no recorded release of radioactive material into the environment around the facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said.

Strikes used ‘bunker buster’ bombs and cruise missiles

The U.S. military used “bunker-buster” bombs in its attack on Iran’s Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, which is built deep into a mountain, a U.S. official said. That official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

The 30,000-pound bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to penetrate underground and then explode. Saturday’s strikes were the first time it has been used in combat.

U.S. submarines also participated in the attacks in Iran, launching about 30 Tomahawk land attack missiles, according to another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

It was not clear what those missiles were aimed at. Two Iranian nuclear sites besides Fordo were attacked, Isfahan and Natanz.

— Lolita C. Baldor

Trump called Netanyahu after strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video that Trump called him after the strikes.

“It was a very warm conversation, very emotional,” Netanyahu said.

Speaking in Hebrew, he called Trump a friend of Israel like no one before him.

“In my name, and on behalf of all citizens of Israel and on behalf of the entire Jewish world, I thank him from the bottom of my heart.”

Quiet outside the White House as Trump describes Iran strikes

After Trump spoke to the country about the bombing in Iran, the White House had an eerie calm.

There was darkness outside the West Wing, other than bright TV crew lights and yellow lights from the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building overlooking the White House.

A siren rang in the background in city traffic that continued without pausing for the historic moment.

Trump’s speech came on in the overhead speakers in the White House press area, only for his voice to give way to a sudden silence after he thanked God.

Trump warns Iran ‘there are many targets left’

U.S. President Donald Trump warned that he will not hesitate to strike other targets in Iran if peace does not come quickly in the Middle East.

“There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” he said.

Trump said that while the nuclear facilities struck by the U.S. on Saturday were the most “lethal,” “there are many targets left.”

“If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,” he added.

Trump says he worked ‘as a team’ with Israel’s prime minister to strike Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump said he worked “as a team” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the collaboration was “perhaps” like “no team has worked before.”

But Trump also noted that no military in the world except for that of the U.S. could have pulled off the attack.

Trump says Iran will face more military strikes unless it makes peace

President Donald Trump called Iran “the bully of the Middle East” and warned of additional attacks if it didn’t make peace.

“If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier,” Trump said at the White House after the bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities were announced earlier.

Trump portrayed the strike as a response to a long-festering problem, even if the objective was to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

“For 40 years Iran has been saying death to America, death to Israel,” Trump said. “They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs.”

Iranian Atomic Energy Organization confirms strikes

Iran’s nuclear agency on Sunday confirmed attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz atomic sites, but is insisting its work will not be stopped.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued the statement after President Donald Trump announced the American attack on the facilities.

“The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran assures the great Iranian nation that despite the evil conspiracies of its enemies, with the efforts of thousands of its revolutionary and motivated scientists and experts, it will not allow the development of this national industry, which is the result of the blood of nuclear martyrs, to be stopped,” it said in its statement.

Netanyahu welcomes US strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s decision to attack in a video message directed to the American president.

“Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the awesome and righteous might of the United States, will change history,” he said.

Netanyahu said the U.S. “has done what no other country on earth could do.”

Japan evacuates group from Iran

Japan’s Foreign Ministry said that 21 Japanese residents of Iran and their family members arrived safely in Baku, the capital of the neighboring Azerbaijan, after evacuating by bus. It was Japan’s second evacuation from Iran.

US used ‘bunker buster’ bomb, Trump tells Hannity

The U.S. dropped six “bunker buster” bombs to strike the deeply buried Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, Fox News’ Sean Hannity says President Donald Trump told him in a phone call.

The Israelis say their offensive has already crippled Iran’s air defenses and significantly degraded multiple Iranian nuclear sites.

But to destroy the Fordo plant, Israel appealed to Trump for the 30,000-pound bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to penetrate underground and then explode.

The bomb is currently delivered only by the B-2 stealth bomber, which is only found in the American arsenal.

If confirmed, this would be the first combat use of the weapon.

Republican leaders in Congress praise Trump’s decision to strike Iran

U. S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican who was briefed by the White House ahead of the strike, said in a statement, “President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated … That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision, and clarity.”

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Iranian regime’s “misguided pursuit of nuclear weapons must be stopped.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Iran hawk and Republican from South Carolina, wrote online: “This was the right call. The regime deserves it.”

Meanwhile, elected Democrats and some far-right Republicans questioned the move, particularly without authorization from the U.S. Congress.

“Horrible judgment,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”

Said conservative Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, “While President Trump’s decision may prove just, it’s hard to conceive a rationale that’s Constitutional.”

Nonproliferation group condemns attacks

The Washington-based Arms Control Association, which focuses on nuclear nonproliferation, said the attack was an “irresponsible departure from Trump’s pursuit of diplomacy and increases the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran.”

“The U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear targets, including the deeply fortified, underground Fordo uranium enrichment complex, may temporarily set back Iran’s nuclear program, but in the long term, military action is likely to push Iran to determine nuclear weapons are necessary for deterrence and that Washington is not interested in diplomacy,” it warned.

Iran’s state-run news agency confirms attacks targeting Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported early Sunday that attacks also targeted the country’s Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites.

IRNA quoted Akbar Salehi, Isfahan’s deputy governor in charge of security affairs, saying there had been attacks around the sites. He did not elaborate.

Another official confirmed an attack targeting Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear site.

Iran’s state-run news agency acknowledges attack on nuclear facility

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency early Sunday acknowledged an attack on the country’s Fordo nuclear site.

Quoting a statement from Iran’s Qom province, IRNA said: “A few hours ago, when Qom air defenses were activated and hostile targets were identified, part of the Fordo nuclear site was attacked by enemies.”

The IRNA report did not elaborate.

Irani news agencies report that air defenses opened fire near Fordo

Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted a provincial official in Qom that air defense did recently fire in an attack believed to target the area around the Fordo facility, but offered no other information.

The semiofficial Fars news agency, also close to the Guard, quoted another official saying air defenses opened fire near Isfahan and explosions had been heard.

Fars also quoted the same official in Qom province, saying air defenses fired around Fordo.

Trump claimed attack threatens to reignite US war with Houthi rebels

The attack claimed by U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to reignite America’s war with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the last member of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” able to launch regular attacks.

The Houthis on Saturday warned they would resume attack American ships in the Red Sea corridor if the U.S. joined the Israeli campaign.

Trump describes bombings as a ‘very successful military operation’

President Donald Trump posted on social media that he will be delivering a 10 p.m. EDT address on the U.S. strikes from the White House.

The president described the bombings as a “very successful military operation in Iran.”

“This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR,” Trump added.

Several Republican senators praise Trump after US bombing of Iran sites

Several Republican senators are praising President Donald Trump after he announced Saturday evening that the U.S. military bombed three sites in Iran.

“Well done, President Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, posted on X. Texas Sen. John Cornyn called it a “courageous decision.” Alabama Sen. Katie Britt said she stands by Trump and called the bombings “strong and surgical.”

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted: “America first, always.”

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania also praised the attacks on Iran. “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” he posted. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities.”

One House Republican criticized Trump’s decision. “This is not Constitutional,” posted Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a longtime opponent of U.S. involvement in foreign wars.

US strikes 3 Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says, joining Israeli air campaign

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel ’s effort to decapitate the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.

The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-lb. bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.

Saudi Arabia condemns ‘blatant Israeli aggressions’ against Iran

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has condemned “blatant Israeli aggressions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which undermine its sovereignty and security, constitute a clear violation of international laws and norms, and threaten the security and stability of the region,” the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

Speaking at Friday’s meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, he called for “the immediate cessation of military operations, the avoidance of escalation, and a return to the negotiation track between Iran and the international community.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia were long regional arch-rivals but have normalized relations in recent years. Riyadh was quick to side publicly with Tehran after Israel launched a surprise barrage of strikes on Iran last week.

Bin Farhan also reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The kingdom and France had been set to co-chair a conference in New York this month on the topic, which was postponed due to the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war.

President says Iran will never resign its right to nuclear power

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country will never renounce its right to nuclear power, which “cannot be taken away from it through war and threats.”

In a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, Pezeshkian said Iran was ready to provide guarantees and confidence-building measures to demonstrate the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities, according to IRNA, the state-run news agency.

Pezeshkian said that Iran has never sought to produce nuclear weapons, IRNA reported. Posting on X, the French leader said he told his Iranian counterpart that “Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and it is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful.”

Egypt rejects Israeli campaign against Iran and calls for negotiated solution

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt has expressed his government’s “complete rejection” of Israel’s campaign against Iran, calling for a negotiated solution to the conflict.

El-Sissi’s comments came in a phone call Saturday with Iranian President Masoud Pezezhkin, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

The statement said el-Sissi voiced Egypt’s “complete rejection of the ongoing Israeli escalation against Iran,” as a threat to the Middle East’s security and stability.

The Egyptian leader called for an immediate ceasefire to resume negotiations with the aim of reaching a “sustainable, peaceful solution to this crisis.”

Aerial refueling tankers spotted on flight paths consistent with escorting aircraft from US

Multiple U.S. aerial refueling tankers were spotted on commercial flight trackers flying flight patterns consistent with escorting aircraft from the central U.S. to the Pacific.

B-2 bombers, which are the only aircraft that carry the large bunker buster bombs, are based at an Air Force base in Missouri. It was not clear whether the aircraft being escorted early Saturday were prepared for an operation or merely moving to airbases closer to Iran as a show of force.

The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment on the flights.

Israel says it and Cyprus foiled a planned attack on Israeli citizens

Israel’s foreign minister says Israeli security services have helped Cypriot authorities foil a planned attack against Israeli citizens on the east Mediterranean island nation.

Minister Gideon Saar posted on X Saturday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was behind the plot. He thanked Cyprus for its “swift and effective actions” and accused Iran of “deliberately targeting Israeli civilians both in Israel and abroad.”

Cyprus police said Saturday they arrested a man on suspicion of terrorism and espionage. A court Saturday ordered the man, who wasn’t identified, held in police custody for eight days until investigators can complete their probe. Cypriot authorities said they wouldn’t comment further on the man’s arrest for “national security reasons.”

A British Foreign Office spokesman said that U.K. authorities are in contact with the Cypriot government “regarding the arrest of a British man.”

Germany closes Tehran embassy and withdraws staff from Iran

The German embassy in Tehran has been closed until further notice “due to the current crisis situation,” the diplomatic representation wrote on its website.

“Please do not come to the embassy or the consulate building. Appointments that have already been arranged have been canceled,” the embassy said.

Due to the war between Israel and Iran, the German Foreign Ministry said Saturday it has withdrawn all of its embassy staff in Tehran and brought them out of the country.

The embassy is still reachable online for Germans remaining in Iran. On its website, the embassy gives advice on the different possibilities to leave by land via Armenia or Turkey. According to the German Foreign Ministry, there are still about 1,000 German citizens in Iran.

US begins repatriation flights from Israel

The U.S. ambassador to Israel says the United States has begun “assisted departure flights” from Israel, the first time such flights have been offered there since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

The State Department said Saturday that it organized two flights departing from Tel Aviv to Athens with approximately 70 U.S. citizens, their accompanying immediate family members and permanent residents.

Ambassador Mike Huckabee announced the flights in a social media post as the war between Israel and Iran entered its second week. He says U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents can complete an online form for updates.

The U.S. has also told its citizens in Iran who wish to leave to go via Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkey if they feel it’s safe.

Nasrallah’s bodyguard killed in Israeli airstrike on Iran, Hezbollah says

The head of security to the late Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike while in Iran, a Hezbollah official said Saturday.

Abu Ali Khalil, better known as Abu Ali Jawad, was killed after he went to Iran from neighboring Iraq, the official said.

For many years, Abu Ali was seen behind Nasrallah during most of his public appearances.

After Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstike in a Beirut suburb in September, his bodyguard was put in charge of his tomb in Beirut.

The Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the airstrike that killed Abu Ali occurred earlier Saturday.

Erdogan offers to mediate Iran-US talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for technical and leadership-level talks between Iran and the United States to resolve tensions, during a meeting with Iran’s top diplomat.

A statement from Erdogan office said the Turkish president also told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday that Turkey was ready to take on the role of facilitator.

Erdogan said that the region cannot tolerate another war and said Israel must be “stopped immediately.”

Araghchi was in Turkey to attend a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.