President Donald Trump gave Iran an ultimatum on Saturday night: Make peace or risk annihilation.
The president said the “bully of the Middle East” had been targeted by U.S. strikes and the country’s nuclear facilities had been “totally obliterated.”
Trump’s short address to the nation came after the U.S. attacked three targets in Iran.
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Starting at 10 p.m. EDT, the speech lasted just four minutes, and Trump was flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,” he said. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
The president claimed Iran’s leaders had been bad-mouthing the United States for decades.
“For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America, death to Israel,’” Trump said. “They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs. That was their specialty.
“It will not continue,” he insisted.
Trump singled out General Qasem Soleimani, leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, as a key enemy of the U.S. Soleimani was killed at Baghdad airport in January 2020.
Trump said the United States “worked like a team” with Israel to erase “this horrible threat.”
“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier,” Trump said.
Moments after Trump’s speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Trump for launching the strikes, congratulating the president on his “bold decision.”
Two hours earlier, the president claimed the strikes were a success.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” he wrote. “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,” Trump continued. “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”
“Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.
The U.S. reportedly used six massive 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site.
Submarines were used to launch 30 Tomahawk missiles to strike the other two targets, which were 400 miles away.
