The U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, speaks under the watchful eye of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine (right), during a meeting with the Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on May 27, 2025. (Credit: Oliver Contreras/AFP)
The United States has "devastated the Iranian nuclear program," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated on Sunday, following American strikes on three sites during a military operation called "Midnight Hammer." This operation, which involved seven B-2 stealth bombers from the US military, was conducted with "spectacular success," the Pentagon chief praised.
Detailing the surprise attack, the U.S. chief of staff, right-hand man to Pete Hegseth, explained that the bombers took off Saturday from their base in the United States to reach Iran, an 18-hour journey made possible by numerous in-flight refuelings. The United States used several diversion tactics for this operation, noted General Dan Caine, emphasizing that "Iran's anti-aircraft missile systems do not seem to have detected us during the entire mission."
He then detailed the time at which the strikes were conducted during the night from Saturday to Sunday. He specified that the B-2 bomber leading the squadron notably dropped two GBU-57 bunker-busting bombs on the Fordo enrichment plant, south of Tehran. In total, U.S. forces dropped 14 GBU-57 bombs weighing 13,600 kilograms on Iran, marking 'the first operational use of this weapon,' according to Dan Caine.
The three Iranian nuclear sites suffered "severe damage," highlighted the chief of staff. Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian condemned this operation, calling it an "aggression," and accused the United States of being 'behind' the Israeli military operation launched against Iran on June 13. Hegseth emphasized that President Donald Trump "wants peace" and that Iran should also "choose this path."