Dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” the American military strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran were complex, with the details closely held.
ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
The United States has entered the fight between Israel and Iran. All this hour, we’ll take stock of the U.S. strikes against three nuclear facilities in Iran and consider what they mean for people in the region and around the world. And we begin by discussing the military operation itself. Dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, the American military strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran were complex, with the details closely held. For more, we turn to NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Hey, Tom.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey there.
LIMBONG: Tom, you were at the Pentagon today for a briefing. What stood out to you this morning?
BOWMAN: Well, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine briefed reporters this morning. They said three nuclear sites in Iran were hit. There were more than 125 aircraft, including B-2 bombers dropping multiple so called bunker busters, the first time they were used in combat. Also a submarine was used, firing several dozen Tomahawk missiles. There was some deception, as well. Some of the B-2s flew west from a base in Missouri over the Pacific. That was a decoy mission. The B-2s attacking Iran flew east over the Atlantic, refueling in midair, and then being joined by fighter aircraft once they were over land.
Officials said Iran was caught completely off guard. No shots were fired at the U.S. aircraft. Iranian planes did not even take to the skies, and no Iranian missiles were fired. Secretary Hegseth said this is about degrading Iranian nuclear programs. These were limited strikes, and this is not about regime change. He said it’s time for Iran to seek peace and come to the table. A big question is, what happens if Iran does not come to the table or drags out talks with European officials? Clearly, Israel will continue attacks, as we saw today. But will the U.S. mount additional strikes if Iran does not seek peace? We just don’t know. And a big question is, how will Iran respond now?
LIMBONG: Yeah.
BOWMAN: And you’re right. The mission is called Operation Midnight Hammer, and details were very closely held. Congressional leaders were only notified after the attacks were over, attacks that took about 25 minutes. And while U.S. bases in the Middle East were placed on higher alert, those bases were not given a heads up about the attack.
LIMBONG: Now Tom, the White House is calling this a successful attack. What does that mean when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program? Like, how effective were these strikes?
BOWMAN: Well, they’re still doing the damage assessment. It’s ongoing. It’ll take a few days to get a better sense of what happened based on a wide variety of intelligence. President Trump, of course, said the sites were obliterated, but it’s uncertain at this point if that’s true. Of course, analysts have long said that even with such strikes, it can completely end in Iranian nuclear ambitions. So again, what is the way ahead? The U.S. is clearly at war with Iran now. In the past, the U.S. has hit oil platforms but never Iran proper.
LIMBONG: Yeah. Let’s talk about the regional implications, especially for U.S. bases and the people serving there.
BOWMAN: No, it’s a huge concern, and Hegseth said if Iran hits any of these bases, the U.S. will reply with even greater attacks. There are some 40,000 U.S. troops in the region – in Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq and Syria among them. Five years ago, during Trump’s first administration, when the U.S. assassinated Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack, injuring a number of service members. So a concern is, could something like that happen again? – by Iran or by Iranian militias. We’ll just have to wait and see.
LIMBONG: All right. Yeah, we’ll wait and see. That’s NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Tom, thank you so much.
BOWMAN: You’re welcome.
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