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The US bombs Iran. Three nuclear sites heavily hit. Cue condemnation from Iran – and promises of retribution.

As the Iranian foreign minister heads to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin and discuss what to do next, we ask: what has happened, why did the Trump administration decide to take action, what’s the response domestically and internationally – and what on earth could happen next.

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The Pentagon briefing was big on what happened but short on detail of what happens next.

Neither defence secretary Pete Hegseth nor General Dan “Raisin” Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, can answer that.

Mr Hegseth called the bombing an “incredible and overwhelming success” with “focused and clear” instructions from President Trump.

The focus now is on what follows and that’s not so clear.

The briefing laid out the details of the military deception plan behind Operation Midnight Hammer.

B-2 stealth aircraft were flown west towards the Pacific on Saturday as a decoy, while the B-2s with bunker-busting bombs on board flew east towards Iran.

Israel-Iran live: World continues to react to US attack on nuclear facilities

Mr Hegseth called it a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and came down, in the end, to “precision, misdirection and operational security”.

Gen Caine, Mr Trump’s top military man, offered a measured assessment. While Mr Trump had spoken of Iran’s nuclear sites being “obliterated”, Gen Caine revised that downwards when he spoke of “extremely severe damage”.

Full battle damage assessment will reveal the complete picture – only then can the mission’s success be measured in full, mindful that Iran had shifted at least some of its enriched uranium in the days before the strike.

On the politics of it, Mr Hegseth said this wasn’t about regime change in Iran. It might offer precious little reassurance to Tehran, particularly as he also said part of the operation was to defend Israel and the ongoing defence of Israel.

If the US is tethered to Israel’s interests to the extent of an unprecedented attack on Iran, where does its influence end?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared almost giddy in response to the US attack. He is a PM strengthened by Mr Trump’s spectacular response to his rhetoric around Iran.

Suspicions weren’t softened around Netanyahu’s influence over Mr Trump when Mr Hegseth was asked about the basis for the attack. He has long lobbied the US president on Iran being close to building a nuclear bomb, contrary to American intelligence which indicates otherwise.

Mr Hegseth was asked what was the new intelligence, was it American or from other countries? He avoided a direct answer, saying only that Mr Trump had looked at all the intelligence information and concluded Iran was a threat.

There were a number of questions about what comes next, with an assortment of non-answers in response from Mr Hegseth.

Read more:
Iran may not have lost its ability to make a nuclear bomb
Iran may decide that killing Americans is the best way to retaliate

A consistent line was that the US wanted Iran to negotiate peace, coupled with the threat of further aggression if it doesn’t.

The US defence secretary said Washington was in touch with Tehran privately and publicly, giving it every opportunity to come to the table, every opportunity for peace.

He made the point that America hadn’t targeted Iranian troops or civilians – clearly, a measure by the US to limit response and leave open a door.

The Americans want this attack to have been a “one-and-done”.

The scenario it’s left with, however, is an Iran talking of a diplomatic door closed and sending its foreign minister travelling to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin.

Iran is wounded, no doubt. Combined attacks have left it degraded and, without a network of support in the Middle East, its ability to strike back is limited. For now, if not necessarily forever.

Donald Trump clearly enjoyed the sugar rush of military success but he will be wary of the come-down and all of its uncertainties.

In circumstances with world implications, he won’t be alone.

Iranian nuclear sites sustained “extremely severe damage and destruction” in air strikes, the US has said – a stance mostly supported by the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

General Dan Caine, chairman of America’s joint chiefs of staff, told reporters that the destruction wrought by Operation Midnight Hammer will take “some time” to assess.

But he added that “initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction”.

The sites are Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Fordow is a secretive nuclear facility buried about 80m below a mountain and one of two key uranium enrichment plants in Iran, along with Natanz.

Isfahan features a large nuclear technology centre and enriched uranium is also stored there, diplomats say.

At Fordow, satellite images taken after the attack show holes in the mountain in which the nuclear site was situated.

Follow latest: US bombers strike three Iranian nuclear sites

Images of Natanz, which is also suspected of having an underground facility, appear to show a new hole in a rocky area.

Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, said the initial assessment was that “all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect”.

“Which means, especially in Fordow, which was the primary target here, we believe we achieved destruction of capabilities there,” he added.

America’s attack brings the US into direct involvement in the war between Israel and Iran, which started on 13 June. It prompted threats of reprisals from Tehran, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the facility at Natanz had been “completely destroyed”, while its underground halls “suffered a lot” because of cuts to electricity as the result of Israeli attacks.

He also told CNN that the Isfahan site had suffered “very significant damage”.

At Fordow, which is deep underground, he said it was difficult to know how much damage had been done.

Satellite images appear to show major damage at Isfahan.

Natanz was believed to have possibly already suffered extensive damage in Israel’s strikes earlier this week.

Fourteen bunker buster bombs were used in the attacks on Fordow and Natanz, and numerous Tomahawk cruise missiles were also used in the operation, which involved seven B-2 stealth bombers and was described by Donald Trump as “very successful”.

Read more:
What we know about Operation Midnight Hammer as US strikes Iran’s nuclear facilities

However, a senior Iranian source told the Reuters news agency that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow was moved to an undisclosed location ahead of the attacks.

Personnel numbers were said to have been cut, too.

The IAEA said there had been “no increase in off-site radiation levels” after the strikes.

Donald Trump said no further attacks were planned and he hoped diplomacy would take over.

Fears of a wider conflict

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned that the US strikes “will have everlasting consequences”, adding that his country “reserves all options” to retaliate.

Mr Hegseth said the United States “does not seek war” but would “act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners, or our interests are threatened”.

Iran has repeatedly denied it is seeking a nuclear weapon, and Mr Grossi said this month the IAEA had no proof of a “systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon”.

However, the IAEA said last month that Iran had amassed 408.6kg of uranium enriched up to 60% – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Since the war broke out more than a week ago, Iranian authorities say more than 400 people have been killed since Israel’s bombardment began, mostly civilians.

Israel has taken out much of Iran’s military leadership with attacks targeting air defences and military bases.

Iran has been launching missiles back at Israel, and at least 24 people have been killed over the past nine days.

US Senator Chris Murphy, posting on X after the US strikes, said he and other senators received a classified briefing last week indicating that Iran did not pose an immediate threat through its nuclear programme.

“Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon,” Senator Murphy said. “The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the potential for success.”

‘Consultations’ with Vladimir Putin

The Iranian foreign minister told journalists on Sunday morning that he was flying to Moscow to have “serious consultations” with Vladimir Putin.

He described Moscow as a “friend of Iran”, adding: “We always consult with each other.”

Read more:
We may see nothing more than rhetoric from Russia

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that “invaders must now await responses that will bring regret” after the US strikes.

Gulf states like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, all home to US military bases, are on high alert after the strikes, with Bahrain urging drivers to avoid main roads and Kuwait setting up shelters.

The UK has also further increased “force protection” measures for its military bases and personnel in the Middle East to their highest level.

Iran has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “maintain international peace and condemn the US strikes”, according to state media.

‘Bold decision’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the “bold decision” by Mr Trump, saying it would “change history”.

The IRGC said it had launched 40 missiles at Israel on Sunday morning, including its biggest ballistic missile, the Khorramshahr-4.

Iranian missiles hit sites in northern and central Israel, including in Haifa, Ness Ziona, Rishon LeZion and Tel Aviv.

The UK is preparing to fly British nationals out of Israel.

Read more:
Iran may not have lost its ability to make a nuclear bomb
Iran may decide that killing Americans is the best way to retaliate

Nuclear negotiations ‘blown up’

The UK’s prime minister called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table” and reach “a diplomatic solution to end this crisis”.

“Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security. Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat,” said Sir Keir Starmer.

However, Mr Araghchi said the US and Israel had “blown up” negotiations and asked: “How can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?”