U.S. Joins Israel in Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Sites, Trump Announces, Risking Wider War

TIME

President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening that the United States military carried out airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel’s bombing campaign in an effort to cripple Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon.

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much.

00:05A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out

00:09massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities

00:14in the Iranian regime, Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.

00:21Everybody heard those names for years as they built

00:25this horribly destructive enterprise.

00:29Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity

00:34and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.

00:41Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.

00:49Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.

00:55Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.

00:59If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.

01:04For 40 years, Iran has been saying,

01:06death to America, death to Israel.

01:09They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms,

01:12blowing off their legs with roadside bombs.

01:15That was their specialty.

01:17We lost over a thousand people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East

01:22and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate.

01:26In particular, so many were killed by their general, Qasem Soleimani.

01:32I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen.

01:37It will not continue.

01:39I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

01:44We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before.

01:48And we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel.

01:53I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they've done.

01:58And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots

02:01who flew those magnificent machines tonight

02:04and all of the United States military on an operation

02:08the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.

02:12Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity.

02:16I hope that's so.

02:18I also want to congratulate the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

02:22General Dan Raisin Cane, spectacular general,

02:26and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack.

02:30With all of that being said, this cannot continue.

02:33There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran

02:37far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.

02:41Remember, there are many targets left.

02:45Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.

02:51But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets

02:56with precision, speed, and skill.

02:59Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.

03:03There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight.

03:07Not even close.

03:08There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.

03:13Tomorrow, General Cane, Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth,

03:19will have a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon.

03:22And I want to just thank everybody, and in particular, God.

03:28I want to just say we love you, God, and we love our great military.

03:32Protect them.

03:33God bless the Middle East.

03:35God bless Israel.

03:36And God bless America.

03:38Thank you very much.

03:41Thank you very much.

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