
US military forces have struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a "spectacular success", President Donald Trump says, adding that Tehran's nuclear program has been obliterated. The US has directly joined Israel's effort to decapitate the country's nuclear program.
The risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe comes amid Tehran's threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
The decision to directly involve the US comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities.
In a speech that lasted just over three minutes, Trump said Iran's future held "either peace or tragedy" and that there were many other targets that could be hit by the US military.
In his address to the media, Trump claimed victory and called the strikes a "spectacular military success".
"Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," Trump said.
Listen to The Quicky discuss the US strikes on Iran. Post continues below.
He attributed the death of "hundreds of thousands" of Americans in the Middle East to "Iran's hatred" and claimed that he "decided a long time ago that [he] would not let this happen."
"For 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America, death to Israel," he said. "They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their speciality."