Trump says damage to Iran's nuclear sites is 'far below ground level'

Trump said the U.S. attacked three nuclear sites in Iran.

ByDavid Brennan, Meredith Deliso, Leah Sarnoff, Jack Moore, Nadine El-Bawab, Kevin Shalvey, and Jon Haworth
Last Updated: June 23, 2025, 2:06 AM EDT

The United States struck three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced.

B-2 bombers dropped a number of Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs -- known as "bunker busters" -- during the U.S. mission over Iran, a U.S. official confirmed.

A number of Tomahawk cruise missiles were also fired at targets inside Iran from a U.S. Navy submarine, the official confirmed.

Following the strikes, Trump addressed the nation, calling it a "spectacular military success."

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Jun 19, 2025, 9:49 AM EDT

Khamenei 'cannot continue to exist,' Katz says

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke about Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, saying a "dictator like Khamenei … cannot continue to exist," while speaking at the scene of the Iranian strike on Soroka hospital in Beersheba.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's grandson, Hassan Khomeini stands next to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they mark the 36th anniversary of the death of the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, in Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2025.
Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/Wana via Reuters, Files

"We set the war goals to remove nuclear and destruction and missile threats, and in them the IDF was instructed and knows that in order to achieve that, within the overall targets, this man should not continue to exist," Katz said.

Jun 19, 2025, 7:31 AM EDT

Iran missile causes 'extensive damage' at Israeli hospital

The director of the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel, said Thursday there was "extensive" damage to the facility following an Iranian ballistic missile strike.

Smoke billows from Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel following an Iranian missile attack, on June 19, 2025.
John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

Speaking to journalists outside the hospital, Professor Shlomi Kodesh said the attack "hit one of our admission buildings. The surgical northern building was hit directly by a rocket."

"As a result of this hit, fire broke out in this building, several wards were completely demolished, and there was extensive damage across the entire hospital, with damage to buildings, structures, windows, ceilings across the medical center," Kodesh said.

Kodesh said the building that was hit had been evacuated "in the past few days" and the area the missile hit directly was empty. He said 40 people were injured across the hospital.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule

Jun 19, 2025, 6:18 AM EDT

Trump to receive intelligence briefing in Situation Room

President Donald Trump is scheduled on Thursday to receive an intelligence briefing at 11:30 a.m. ET in the Situation Room, according to the White House.

A U.S. flag flies on a new flagpole installed on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 18, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

Jun 19, 2025, 3:34 AM EDT

Israel to 'increase the intensity of attacks,' defense minister says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran will be "held accountable" after a ballistic missile hit Soroka hospital in Beersheba on Thursday.

Israeli emergency services check a destroyed building at the site of an Iranian missile attack in a residential area in Holon in central Israel on June 19, 2025.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

"We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran," a statement posted by Netanyahu to X read.

Katz said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "will be held accountable for his crimes" and said he and Netanyahu had "instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of attacks" in Iran.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaule

Related Topics

Sponsored Content by Taboola