US says strikes on Iran established deterrence as world watched
The US President and Secretary of Defense said the military operation targeting three nuclear sites in Iran sent a strong message to the world, including US adversaries.
"Our so-called enemies were watching. They watched every minute of it," Trump said at a televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"It was a perfect military performance, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time," he added recalling the operation codenamed Midnight Hammer.
“What was demonstrated on the world stage was American military might and capability,” Pete Hegseth said in his brief before the president spoke.
“It was not just Fordow and Isfahan and Natanz, but the whole world took notice of that.”
The June 22 strikes targeted Iran's three key nuclear sites with bunker-buster bombs. It was hailed "perfect" by the Trump administration but questioned by some Democratic lawmakers citing an early intelligence assessment.
Trump rejected doubts about the strikes' impact, praising the pilots and others involved.
“Those machines flew for 37 straight hours. They didn’t stop. They went skedaddle... They dropped the bombs, and somebody said skedaddle... And every bomb hit its mark—and hit it incredibly,” he said
"They were right in the most dangerous airspace in the world…and they went right through…by the time they (Iran) found out they were there, they were already gone. That was the word, skedaddle, get the hell out of here," he added.
