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Qatar reserves the right to respond to the attack

Pentagon says there is no information of any casualties.

Iran claims that they have fired 6 missiles, one in response for each bomb dropped on Fordo. It appears that Qatar (and possibly the US too) were pre-warned.

All missiles were intercepted before hitting their targets.

Al Udeid is the the home of the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) which is manned primarily by the US but also by UK and other allies. It is also a major military air hub in the region and would have had some responsibility for oversight of the recent US attack on the nuclear sites.

President Trump's Response

[paraphrasing] The Iranians have made a weak response and we were warned by them in advance. I thank Iran for the warning which gave us the ability to ensure that no lives were endangered. We hope that discussions can now be restarted. I will encourage Israel to also enable negotiations to be restarted. [end paraphrasing].

USA bombs Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan
US President Donald Trump says American forces have conducted "very successful" strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan and that all US planes are now out of Iranian airspace.

Trump's Truth Social
"We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter."

[Updated 22 Jun 1313z - following statements by Secretary of Defence and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--JR]

Operation Midnight Hammer

75 x TLAMs - Precision Guided Weapons (PGW), 14 x MOPs GBU-57 used by 7 B2s, operational feint by sending 6 x B2s westward into the Pacific area, 7 x B2s continued eastwards. The B2s are still airborne and were observed refuelling over the Azores a few hours ago on FlightRadar24 (at least 18 tanker aircraft operating racetracks but the B2s were still radio silent). TLAMs were also fired by USN assets in the southern Persian Gulf. Over 120 aircraft involved in the mission including F16, F22, F35, ISTAR, AAR. Battle damage assessment will take time to collect and analyse.

US forces involved in the attack were not engaged and appear to have achieved total surprise. All assets are accounted for but some are still airborne.

Original Submission

quietus writes:

The President of the United States has declared that the 17 million inhabitants of the capital city of a country should immediately evacuate.

Republican Congressman (and engineer) Thomas Massie (Kentucky) has stated that he will introduce a war powers resolution today, Tuesday, to prevent the President of the United States going to war without first consulting Congress.

"This is not our war. But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution."

[Editor's Comment: This has been released with significant reservations. The departure of Trump from the G7 was accompanied with a statement that said "it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that." Of course, this can be read in 2 different ways. It is possible that Iran is prepared to surrender or the US might be taking its own action in support of Israel. We would welcome your comments.--JR]

Original Submission