Inside ‘Midnight Hammer’: How B-2 Stealth Bombers Hit Iran Hard

Key Points – The United States launched “Operation Midnight Hammer” overnight on June 21-22, a major military assault on Iran’s three primary nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

-President Donald Trump confirmed the strikes, stating they were a “spectacular military success.”

-The Pentagon reported that B-2 stealth bombers dropped 14 GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs to destroy the deeply buried Fordow site, while Tomahawk missiles hit the other locations.

-While Iranian officials condemned the attack as a “grave violation” of international law, the Pentagon asserted that Iran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated” with minimal risk to US forces due to successful deception tactics.

Trump’s Iran Strikes: What We Know So Far

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday that the United States carried out coordinated strikes on Iran’s three main nuclear facilities, marking a major escalation in the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict.

The strikes, part of Operation Midnight Hammer, came after Trump offered Iran a maximum of two weeks in which he said negotiations with Iran could take place, suggesting that Washington saw no chance that Tehran would willingly agree to dismantle its own nuclear facilities.

The bombings, described by Trump as a “spectacular military success,” targeted underground and fortified sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

B-2 Bomber Bunker Buster Attack

Fox News host Sean Hannity claimed that the president told him U.S. forces used six 30,000 lb “bunker buster” bombs, officially known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), to destroy the Fordow facility.

The bombs were dropped by B-2 stealth bombers, while Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. submarines targeted the Isfahan and Natanz sites.

In a briefing on Sunday morning, the Pentagon confirmed that a total of 14 MOPs were dropped on Iranian targets with the help of 7 B-2 stealth bombers, marking the largest B-2 operational strike in history.

For context, the United States has a total of 19 working B-2 bombers.

The bunker buster bombs were released roughly 7.5 miles above the target and fell to the ground with no additional propulsion. The falling bomb used satellite navigation to steer itself using tail fins, ensuring it lands directly above its target. Upon reaching the ground, the great weight of the munition drove the casing deep into the ground, potentially as far as 60 meters. Once each bomb struck the ground, a delayed fuse detonated 2,400 kg of explosives.

Trump Speaks to the Nation About Iran

Speaking in a televised address to the American people, President Trump warned Tehran against retaliating, promising more devastating attacks on the country.

The president warned that “there are many targets left,” and noted that the successful strikes on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities were the hardest targets in the country, making any possible future strikes far easier to achieve.

“Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes,” Trump said in his speech.

The president was joined by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Iran Speaks

Iranian officials confirmed the facilities had been struck but denied suffering a major setback, despite Trump’s claim that the attacks were a success.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi condemned the attack as a “grave violation” of international law, adding that Iran “reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest and people.”

The Pentagon Speak

In Sunday’s briefing, Pentagon officials confirmed that several deception tactics were used against Iran while moving to strike its nuclear facilities.

The Pentagon also confirmed that it is unaware of any shots fired by Iran at American planes as they approached its airspace, that Iran’s surface-to-air systems didn’t see U.S. planes throughout the entirety of the mission, and that all three nuclear sites sustained extreme damage.

Mission Success Against Iran’s Nuclear Program?

The three nuclear sites targeted in Saturday’s strikes were central to Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Fordow, buried deep beneath a mountain south of Tehran, has long been considered one of the most secure nuclear sites in the world.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog confirmed that, following the strike, there was no reported increase in radiation levels. According to Iran’s Atomic Energy organizations, materials had already been removed and the sites evacuated “a while ago,” a claim echoed by Iranian state broadcasting officials.

Despite Iran’s efforts to minimize the impact of the attack, the strikes mark the first direct U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear assets in decades. Trump’s move also upended nuclear negotiations, surprising Iranian officials as they requested the White House’s assistance in pressuring Israel to cease its military campaign against Iran.

If Iran’s claims of having removed nuclear materials from its three facilities are true, some speculate that Tehran may simply begin rebuilding its program. However, after spending billions of dollars and decades on the project, only to endure international pressure that lasted just as long and culminated in U.S. strikes, others believe that Iran has no incentive to restart its nuclear program.

What the Experts are Saying

Matthew Kroenig, vice president of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, noted that the United States “ended one of its most serious foreign policy threats,” adding that every U.S. President since George W. Bush has expressed concern about the prospects of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Kroenig also expressed optimism that the strikes would not result in a broader conflict, given Iran’s limited capacity to respond, and that they “probably won’t rebuild.”

“Their nuclear facilities are a smoking pile of rubble. They probably won’t rebuild,” he said. “They just spent billions of dollars and decades only to invite sanctions and a devastating war with the most powerful country in the world. Why hit replay on that tape?”

The Natanz complex, roughly 150 miles south of Tehran, was Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facility. Analysts believe that the site was used to assemble centrifuges used in uranium enrichment. The site was a target in Israel’s first strikes, and consists of six above-ground buildings and three underground facilities. The size of the Fordow complex is not fully understood, though intelligence suggests that the bunker, located near the city of Qom, is almost 300ft beneath the ground.

The Isfahan facility, meanwhile, is located in central Iran and is home to the country’s biggest nuclear research operation. The facility was opened in 1984 and operates three small research reactors that were provided by China.

How Much Damage Done?

The extent of the damage done to the sites is yet to be seen, but Pentagon officials believe that the Iranian nuclear threat has now been neutralized. Speaking during Sunday morning’s briefing, the defense secretary said that Iran’s nuclear project had been “obliterated” following the strikes.

“The order we received from our commander in chief was focused, it was powerful, and it was clear,” Hegseth said. “We devastated the Iranian nuclear program. But it’s worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.”

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the mission was the largest strike of its kind in American history, involving more than 125 aircraft, including decoy flights, and 75 precision-guided munitions dropped on Iranian nuclear sites.

Caine confirmed that it will “take some time” to understand the full extent of the damage caused by the strikes, but that the initial assessments indicate that all three sites “sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.”

How the World Reacted

In the hours following the strikes, Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israeli cities, injuring at least 86 people, including in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Air raid sirens blared across Israel and several missile strikes were reported in civilian areas.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for firing 40 missiles and issued ominous warnings that they had not yet deployed their full military capabilities against Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel confirmed that it had coordinated with the United States ahead of the strikes.

In the United States, Trump’s decision drew mixed reactions, with many Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz, praising the president, while others slammed him for potentially escalating the conflict. Democrat Hakeem Jeffries warned, however, that Trump’s decision risked “entanglement in a potentially disastrous war.” Trump faced pushback from some MAGA diehards, too, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who claimed that “this is not our fight.”

“It’s no surprise that a majority of Republicans oppose U.S. intervention in Israel’s war with Iran…In November, voters cast their ballots to end the forever wars. I’m not surprised one bit. Americans want our government focused on solving our problems here at home, and we have many to solve,” Greene also told Newsweek.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that the U.S. actions were designed to “alleviate” the Iranian nuclear threat, claiming in a statement that he had called repeatedly on Tehran to engage in talks and reach a diplomatic end to the conflict.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, said that U.S. air strikes were a dangerous escalation.

About the Author:

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.

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