Hegseth says Iran’s nuclear ambitions ‘obliterated’

No Iranian planes were deployed to intercept the bombers, and no U.S. military jets were targeted by Tehran, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said.

By Akiva Van Koningsveld, JNS

The U.S. military’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites “obliterated” Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday morning, revealing details about “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

The U.S. military has completed its mission to “destroy or severely degrade Iran’s nuclear program,” Hegseth said, adding that the operation against Tehran “was not and has not been about regime change.”

President Donald Trump “authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program,” the secretary told journalists at the Pentagon.

“It was historic, a strike that included the longest B-2 Spirit Bomber mission since 2001 and the first operational employment of the MOP, a massive ordinance penetrator,” Hegseth noted.

“Operation Midnight Hammer” included 14 “bunker-buster” bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine revealed at the press conference.

Caine said initial assessments indicated the three attack sites had sustained “extremely severe damage and destruction,” but he declined to comment on whether any of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear capabilities remained.

“A large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States. As part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy,” he revealed, saying it was “a deception effort known only to an extremely small number” of U.S. military and political leaders.

No Iranian planes were deployed to intercept the bombers, and no U.S. military jets were targeted by Tehran, the general said.

“Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice,” Caine added.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told NBC News on Sunday that the airstrikes successfully set back Iran’s nuclear weapons program, adding that Washington hoped to pursue a diplomatic solution.

“We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it has already been built out. We want to end their nuclear program,” he said. “We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.”

The U.S. military carried out a “very successful” attack on three Iranian nuclear sites—Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan—Trump said on Saturday.

“A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” the president announced, adding, “All planes are safely on their way home.

“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier,” the president stated in an address, warning, “There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.”