Vice President JD Vance praised President Donald Trump’s national security team on Sunday, following the strikes on Iran carried out Saturday night.
Addressing recent media criticism of the administration’s security efforts, Vance argued that Saturday’s operation demonstrated the team’s readiness and capability to fulfill their duties.
“The operation last night is an incredible testament to American pilots and other service members, from General Caine and General Kurilla on down,” Vance wrote on X.
“While the media has attacked the president’s senior team relentlessly, and tried to sow fake division, last night would have been impossible without perfect coordination and discretion from the president’s national security team. I’m incredibly proud of them, and I know the president is, too,” he added.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Sunday that the U.S. is “not at war” with Iran following Trump’s order to strike three Iranian nuclear sites.
Speaking on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Rubio emphasized that regime change in Iran is “not the goal” and that the U.S. continues to pursue diplomatic solutions. He also warned that any retaliation from Iran would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”
Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the U.S. deployed six “bunker buster” bombs to destroy the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow on Saturday evening. Additionally, he said the U.S. launched 30 Tomahawk missiles from submarines to strike the Natanz and Isfahan facilities, the outlet reported.
The number of bunker busters was updated to 14 by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine during a Pentagon press conference on Sunday.
“The lead B-2 dropped two GBU 57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator weapons on the first of several Aim points at Fordow as the president stated last night, the remaining bombers then hit their targets as well, with a total of 14 Mops dropped against two nuclear target areas. All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck between 6:40 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time,” Caine said.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Caine provided a briefing Sunday morning following a series of strikes against three principal Iranian nuclear weapons facilities just hours before.
Both men revealed details of “Operation Midnight Hammer,” which targeted facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, utilizing B-2 stealth bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from U.S. submarines.
The operation involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including a number of B-2 bombers that were sent over the Pacific as a “decoy,” they said. Meanwhile, other B-2s were tasked with dropping more than a dozen massive “bunker buster” munitions on the Fordow and Natanz facilities, as the Tomahawks were used at Isfahan.
“The order we received from our commander in chief was focused, it was powerful, and it was clear,” Hegseth said from the Pentagon podium. “We devastated the Iranian nuclear program, but it’s worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people. … Thanks to President Trump’s bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.”
The operation commenced overnight Friday into Saturday morning, Caine said during a Pentagon news conference. B-2 bombers departed from the U.S., with some flying west as a decoy while the remainder “proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications throughout the 18-hour flight.”
Caine said a US submarine “launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets” at Isfahan.
As the B-2s entered Iranian airspace, the US “employed several deception tactics, including decoys, as the fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface-to-air missile threats,” Caine said.
He added that upon approach of the Natanz and Fordow facilities, the US employed “high-speed suppression weapons” with fighter aircraft to “ensure safe passage” of the bombers.