US Details ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’ Strikes on Iran: Live Updates
S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine spoke on Sunday morning about “Operation Midnight Hammer,” in which the U.S. dropped over a dozen Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs on two Iranian nuclear facilities and hit a third site on Saturday evening.
The press conference, which went into details and timing of the operation, follows comments by Iran’s top diplomat as he blasted Washington on Sunday after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that American B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear complexes overnight.
“Last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X. “This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy.”
Earlier he accused the U.S. of “launching a dangerous war,” while vowing that Iran “reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interests and people.”
Araghchi’s comments put the spotlight on a collapsing diplomatic track that, until last week, included indirect U.S.–Iran contacts and fresh talks with Britain, France, Germany and the European Union. Western officials say Iran must “return” to talks while Tehran insists it never left the negotiating table.
