United States enters war against Iran, bombs three key nuclear sites

The United States joined Israel’s war against Iran in the early hours of Sunday, with American warplanes dropping bombs on three nuclear sites in the country.

US President Donald Trump said that the country carried out a “very successful attack” on Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan in Iran. “A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, [Fordo],” Trump said.

The village of Fordo, located in a mountainous area south of Iran’s capital city Tehran, is the site of an underground uranium enrichment facility believed to be key to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to the BBC. Iran, however, maintains that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation on Sunday confirmed that three nuclear sites in the country “were attacked in a violent act against international laws, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty, by the enemies of Islamic Iran”, The New York Times reported. It said that it would initiate legal action against the United States in international courts, and that Iran’s nuclear programme would go on.

The United States’ decision to directly enter the conflict came over a week after the Israeli military struck what it claimed were nuclear targets, and also other sites, in Iran with the aim of stalling Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on Israel.

On Thursday, the White House had said...

Read more