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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.

Pakistan has said it would recommend Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in helping to resolve the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.

Some analysts in Pakistan have suggested the move might persuade the US president to reconsider potentially joining Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Pakistan has condemned Israel’s attack on Iran as a violation of international law and said it threatens regional stability.

Last month a surprise announcement by Mr Trump of a ceasefire brought an end to a four-day conflict between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed states.

The US president has repeatedly boasted of averting a nuclear war and saving millions of lives, and has complained about not getting enough credit.

While Pakistan agrees US diplomatic intervention brought the fighting to an end, India has disputed that, saying it was a bilateral agreement between the two militaries.

Read more:
Why intervention in Kashmir is a poisoned fruit

“President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation,” Pakistan said.

“This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker.”

Mr Trump has long craved the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming he should have been awarded it for a variety of reasons.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday, the president gave a long list of conflicts he claimed he had resolved, including Pakistan and India and the Abraham accords in his first term between Israel and some Muslim-majority countries.

“I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do,” he added.

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Pakistan’s announcement it would nominate Mr Trump comes in the same week as its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, met the US president for lunch.