– Masood Abdali
(Senior columnist and expert on Middle Eastern affairs)
masood_abdali@hotmail.com
US President Donald Trump has once again proven himself to be unreliable. On the morning of Thursday, June 19, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters, “President Trump believes the Iranian nuclear issue can be resolved through dialogue. Therefore, he has ruled out immediate military action, and a decision will be made two weeks from now.”
Yet, just two days later, the Fordow uranium enrichment facility near Qom, the Natanz enrichment complex, and the nuclear research centre in Isfahan were attacked.
The preparations for the assault had been underway for over a week. According to Iranian and Israeli experts, the Fordow facility is located hundreds of feet underground, nestled in mountain rock. Only the massive 30,000-pound GBU-57 “bunker buster” bomb can reach such depths. In his first term, President Trump had already dropped a similar weapon – the GBU-43/B MOAB (Mother of All Bombs) – in Nangarhar, Afghanistan. That bomb, weighing 21,700 pounds, carried 1,800 pounds of explosives, while the GBU-57 packs a staggering 5,300 pounds of explosive power and can penetrate up to 200 feet of reinforced rock. These heavy bombs can only be carried by B-2 bombers.
A day before the attack, Fox News, citing Israeli media, reported that B-2 bombers had been deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Two days earlier, reports emerged that 30 KC-135 air refuelling tankers had been dispatched from the U.S. to the Middle East. In anticipation of a potential Iranian counterattack, all aircraft at the U.S. base in Qatar were reportedly relocated to naval carriers.
According to initial reports, Fordow was targeted with six GBU-57 bunker busters, while Natanz and Isfahan were hit with 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from U.S. naval vessels.
Following the assault, President Trump addressed the nation alongside Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Defence Haig Sithe. In his triumphant speech, Trump declared, “Today, we have targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The aim was to dismantle Iran’s enrichment capabilities. These facilities have now been destroyed. Iran must choose peace, or face catastrophic consequences.”
Trump issued a stern warning to Iran: retaliate, and face even more devastating strikes. It remains unclear how Iran will respond, but its leadership has previously vowed a full and forceful reply to any U.S. aggression.
Since 2016, President Trump has repeatedly raised alarm over Iran’s supposed pursuit of nuclear weapons, claiming that the Islamic Republic could build a bomb at any moment and pose a threat to Israel and U.S. allies in the region. However, no independent source has verified these claims. Just two months earlier, on March 25, Trump’s own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, “The intelligence community assesses that Iran is not currently pursuing nuclear weapons and that Supreme Leader Khamenei has not reinstated the programme suspended in 2003.”
She repeated the same statement before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence the very next day.
Two days before the strike, when a journalist reminded Trump of this assessment, the President snapped: “The intelligence community is wrong. Iran has the capability to build weapons – whether or not they’re assembling them is irrelevant.” When the journalist clarified that the assessment came from his own intelligence chief, Trump retorted, “Gabbard is wrong.”
Reportedly enraged, Trump has since excluded Tulsi Gabbard from National Security Council meetings. Gabbard, a seasoned political operator, quickly changed her tune, claiming that the media misquoted her and that Iran could, in fact, develop a bomb within weeks – or at most, months.
This is not the first time a country has been attacked based on false pretences. On March 3, 2003, the U.S., along with the UK, Australia, and Poland, invaded Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Intelligence agencies in France, Germany, and New Zealand refuted this claim, and these nations refused to join the war. The backlash was so intense in the U.S. that the House cafeteria renamed “French Fries” to “Freedom Fries,” and some extreme Congressmen even called for the removal of the Statue of Liberty – a gift from France.
On March 5, 2003, the Times of London published a detailed investigative report by David Cracknell, who cited former UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and ex-MI6 Director John Scarlett to argue that Iraq had no WMDs. Cracknell claimed that even Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged the intelligence was false just two weeks before the invasion, but allegedly said, “Preparations are complete; backing down now would show weakness.”
Interestingly, Trump himself referenced this during his 2016 campaign. When rival Jeb Bush praised his brother, former President George W. Bush, Trump shot back: “You mean the one who destroyed Iraq based on a lie about WMDs?” In 2020, when the late Secretary of State Colin Powell called Trump a liar, Trump snapped, “Look who’s talking – the man who lied about WMDs in Iraq!”
As U.S. strikes intensified, so did Iran’s and Israel’s retaliatory exchanges. In recent days, Iran’s missile strikes had grown more precise and devastating. Defence analysts believed Iran was deploying hypersonic, stealth-capable missiles. On the morning of June 20, one such missile evaded Israel’s Iron Dome and struck Be’er Sheva. Previously, experts believed Iran overwhelmed defences by launching mass volleys, some of which slipped through. Then, it appeared even individual missiles could breach the Iron Dome.
Iran’s air defence has also shown significant improvement. Last week, Iranian forces shot down Israel’s most advanced drone, the Hermes 900, over Isfahan. Nicknamed “Star” in Hebrew, the Hermes can fly at 30,000 feet, carry 300 kg of explosives, and remain airborne for 30 hours, all while remaining nearly invisible to radar.
Fear and chaos were spreading across Israel. As missile sirens wailed, civilians scrambled into shelters, often injuring themselves in the process. More Israelis were being hurt by panic than by the missiles themselves. Emergency protocols were being enacted: on June 22, Israel declared a state of emergency. The Home Front Command announced that public gatherings are banned, schools are closed, and only essential stores will remain open.
Wealthy Israelis, panicked by the threat of war, were trying to flee the country. However, the government quietly imposed a de facto travel ban, citing the dangers of air travel. Many have taken to the sea, escaping via Cyprus or Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. Some are fleeing by land to Jordan and Egypt. On June 18, the Israeli Cabinet passed a resolution that citizens may only leave the country with approval from a special governmental committee. The Movement for Quality Government, a civil society group, plans to challenge this in court.
Israeli journalists are particularly disturbed by restrictions on media freedom and mobility. The entire country, not just Gaza, has become a no-go zone for reporters. The military’s media department now issues updates every four hours – the only source of official information. By contrast, Iran has granted foreign journalists near-total access. CNN’s Fred Pleitgen reported from inside Iran’s national television station, which had been bombed by Israeli forces. On Friday, American journalists covered anti-American demonstrations in Tehran, where one protester famously declared, “They threaten us with death, but martyrdom is sweeter than honey.”
In response to the strikes, Iran’s parliament has passed a resolution to close the Strait of Hormuz. If approved by the National Security Council, it will be submitted for final authorisation by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
At 167 kilometres long, the Strait of Hormuz links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and is the only waterway connecting the region to open seas. Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar rely entirely on this passage. A third of the world’s oil flows through this narrow strait. While Saudi Arabia can use the Red Sea via the East-West pipeline from Abqaiq to Yanbu, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait stands in its path – where Houthi rebels lie in wait.
Washington is unlikely to accept Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz. The southern coast of the strait borders the UAE and the Omani exclave of Musandam, where many believe the U.S. has a covert military base. Unsurprisingly, oil prices have surged following the news of the potential closure.
