American President Donald Trump says the United States has bombed three nuclear sites in Iran.
Trump, in a social media post early on Sunday, said the US military struck the nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The development heralds the United States’ direct entry into Israel’s week-long military campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump tweeted.
“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.
“There is not another military in the world that could have done this. Now is the time for peace.”
In a separate post, Trump said he would address Americans on the strikes, while describing the attack as a “historic moment”.
The US president said “Iran must now agree to end this war”, adding that the Islamic Republic “will get hit” again if it does not embrace peace.
Iranian government officials have confirmed the attacks on its nuclear sites, according to Tasnim News Agency.
Morteza Haydari, spokesperson of crisis management in Iran’s Qom province, was quoted as saying that part of the Fordow nuclear plant was attacked by “enemy airstrikes”.
Akbar Salehi, the security deputy governor of Isfahan, also said “we saw attacks near the nuclear sites of Isfahan and Natanz”.
Iran had previously pledged to retaliate if the US aligned with Israel on the military campaign.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, had warned the US that any strike targeting his country would “result in irreparable damage for them”.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei had also threatened an “all-out war in the region” if America joins the war.