Breaking News: U.S. Directly Attacks Iranian Nuclear Facilities

Edgar Lee and Farrukh Abadi

We recommend readers study our editorial on the U.S.-Israel war against Iran here and on the need to oppose the war and uphold Iran’s right to defend itself here.

On Saturday evening (06/21), President Trump announced on social media that three major nuclear facilities in Iran were attacked by the U.S. Two of the facilities were bombed by U.S. warplanes with over a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs, marking the first time the U.S. Air Force has ever used them in combat. U.S. Navy submarines additionally launched 30 cruise missiles at two of the facilities.

At the end of his social media post where he announced and celebrated the illegal bombing, Trump declared “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!” It is anticipated by many analysts that the U.S. will be dragged deeper into the war in the Middle East despite Trump having campaigned as a president of peace, following in the footsteps of his predecessors.

According to Iran, the nuclear sites were evacuated of people and nuclear material before the attacks, with no casualties being been reported in the immediate aftermath.

After the announcement of the bombing, Israel suspended all non-essential activities in anticipation of retaliation from Iran. Staff of the U.S. embassy in Israel was previously evacuated from its building in Tel Aviv on Friday as the U.S. braces for retaliation as well.

Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Zainabiyoun in Pakistan, and the Yemeni Armed Forces of Ansar Allah have vowed to take action in solidarity with Iran against U.S. aggression.

Iranian media outlet Press TV posted early Friday morning local time a picture of Israeli-occupied territory colored with the U.S. flag with the caption, “Will Iran choose to destroy America’s largest military base in response to U.S. attacks?” The Iranian government has previously laid out a number of possible retaliatory options in order to establish deterrence and defend itself, including attacking U.S. assets in the region, ramping up its attacks on the U.S. military outpost Israel, and damaging the U.S. economy by attacking Saudi Arabian oil fields and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, where a significant amount of oil passes through.

The latest U.S. attacks are an escalation of the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran aimed at forcing Iran into submission on its nuclear program. While the attacks are carried out under the guise of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons—a similar argument used to falsely justify the U.S.’s invasion of Iraq roughly 20 years ago—Trump’s own Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified to Congress earlier this year in March that “The [U.S. intelligence community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.” Gabbard has since backtracked on her statement.

Following the attacks, President Trump gave a televised speech, claiming that all three sites were “completely and totally obliterated,” threatening further terror and genocide if Iran continues its self-defense: “if they [do not make peace], future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.” He made clear the Zionist collaboration and interests in this attack, stating, “Netanyahu, we worked as a team… we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel.”

Drone sirens have already begun to ring in Israel.

Image: President Trump gives a televised speech on June 21 announcing his illegal act of war on Iran.

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