The U.S. military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel’s effort to destroy Iran’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe. The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities.
00:00The U.S. Defense Secretary and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs just got done answering questions
00:04from the press about the strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran overnight.
00:09And Judy's been following this and she's in the newsroom with what we know about the mission.
00:12Good morning, Judy.
00:13Good morning.
00:14This was Operation Midnight Hammer.
00:16Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it involved deception and decoys to throw off Iran.
00:22125 aircraft, including B-2s, which dropped 14 bunker buster bombs
00:27and a Navy aircraft carrier fired two dozen Tomahawk missiles.
00:32Hegseth says regime change was not the objective.
00:37It took a great deal of precision.
00:40It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security.
00:48Our B-2s went in and out of downtown Tehran, not Tehran, excuse me, of these nuclear sites,
00:54in and out and back without the world knowing at all.
00:58Iran's fighters did not fly.
01:02And it appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us.
01:08Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise.
01:12The Trump administration says destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity was the objective.
01:21American forces hit three key nuclear sites.
01:23One was the mountainside facility at Fordow.
01:26Others attacked Natanz, which Israeli forces attacked several days ago, and Isfahan.
01:31Last week, the president had indicated he would wait two weeks to give diplomacy a chance.
01:36A sixth round of negotiations were supposed to take place right before Israel's surprise assault on Iran June 13th.
01:43Hours after the U.S. strikes, Iran fired another round of missiles toward Israel, which is still assessing the damage.
01:50Iran's foreign minister said this morning the time for diplomacy had passed,
01:54and Iran will defend itself by all force and means.
01:57In a late-night address to the nation, President Trump said Iran must now make a choice.
02:02This cannot continue.
02:05There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.
02:14Remember, there are many targets left.
02:16All of you know that the only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress.
02:27The president does not have the right.
02:29Secretary Heggs says the administration did comply with the notification requirements of the War Powers Act.
02:38He said members of Congress were informed immediately after fighter planes were safely out.
02:43Back to you.
02:44All right.
02:45Thanks so much, Judy.
02:46Governor Pritzker tweeted this out last night after the attack.
02:49Following the escalation in Iran, I'm keeping a close eye in consultation with federal authorities and Illinois State Police.
02:56There are no known threats to our state at this time.
02:59U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth also making a statement.
03:03In part, the Trump administration illegally bombed Iran, putting American troops and citizens at risk of retaliation and threatening to draw us into yet another Middle East war without constitutionally required congressional approval.
03:16I have long said Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon, but this goal could and should have been pursued through diplomatic means first.
03:24Of course, we will continue to follow the U.S. strike on Iran on our website, WGNTV.com, and you can stream us anywhere at WGN+.
03:33WGNTV.com, and you can stream us to the U.S. strike on Iran on our website, WGNTV.com, and you can stream us to the U.S. strike on Iran on our website, WGNTV.com.
