Everything You Need to Know About How US Strikes on Iran Unfolded
And by the way, why doesn't anyone ever blame Sinwar, or Hamas, or just Islam for this mess? Maybe a short overview of Sunni Islam and Shia Islam is in order.
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Below this short introduction, I am copying a comprehensive article from The Epoch Times with everything you need to know about what military planners dubbed the U.S. military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities “Operation Midnight Hammer”.
But first, there is something that really bugs me and that everyone needs to understand. Why doesn’t everyone blame Yahya Sinwar for this mess? He’s the one who started it. If he hadn’t planned out the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel and the massacre and taking of hostages of innocent civilians, we wouldn’t be in this situation now.
Oh, I forgot, because everything that ever happens that is bad in the world is Israel’s fault. Even October 7th is Israel’s fault. It was all a plot by Israel—so that we would get into this situation that we are now in—obviously. Isn’t it weird how so many in the West are so arrogant in their superiority that they don’t think anyone in the Middle East has a single free thought in their heads. Everyone is controlled by Israel. Oh, and so is the United States.
The United States made this incredibly complex, brilliant attack on Iranian nuclear sites because Israel controls us.
It’s so absurd. It’s so completely insane.
But, back to Sinwar.
Wait, actually, if we are to be completely accurate, we have to go back to 620 CE. That’s when Mohammed started the ball rolling by dictating in the Quran that Allah commanded Muslims to kill all the Jews and all the infidels. This is the heart of Islam, as I have pointed out more than once in comprehensive essays about it.
You can learn more about it in my essay:
Why I Write about Islam: "If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I'd choose Christianity every single time." ~ prominent atheist, Richard Dawkins
So, let’s just keep that in mind. No other nation or group of people has this ultimate goal in their minds—to obliterate everyone else who does not agree with their religion. Nobody in this present day and age thinks like this but Muslims. I’m talking about true Muslims, not “extremists.” Any Muslim who is really honest has to acknowledge that this is the heart of Islam, this is what the Quran teaches and what Allah demands.
You can make it about oil, nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction, or whatever else you want, and certainly these are all immediately pressing issues. But ultimately whether you like it or not, this is a religious war between the Judeo-Christian and Islamic worlds. I know, some people just get so apocalyptically angry when they hear that, they start cursing me out (it’s the “Judeo” part that really sets them off).
Well, too bad. You can curse all you want, but it doesn’t change the truth.
President Trump made deals with Arab nations, such as Saudi Arabia, because although they hate Israel just as much as Iran (don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise) they also hate Iran. Why?
Because most of the other powerful Arab nations are Sunni and Iran is Shia.
The hatred between these two groups goes all the way back to Mohammed’s death and the fight over who would inherit his position, which broke off into these two factions. I’m not getting into that here; that’s a whole other historical topic. I just want readers to understand how deep this hatred goes.
The first oil in the Middle East was discovered in Persia (now Iran) in 1908. Islam was founded 1,400 years ago. A hatred that has persisted that long does not end; it will take any excuse to keep the conflict going until one side obliterates the other.
The majority of Muslims are Sunnis - estimates suggest the figure is somewhere between 85% and 90%.
The Middle Eastern countries with the greatest proportion of Sunnis are Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, with Sunnis making up 90% or more of the population.
Shia make up roughly 10% of all Muslims, and globally their population is estimated between 154 to 200 million, according to a 2009 report from the Pew Forum.
Iran has the largest Shia majority, with more than 66 million making up nearly 90% of the population.
Shia are also in the majority in Iraq and Bahrain. There are sizable Shia communities in Kuwait, Yemen, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In these predominately Sunni countries with large Shia communities, Shia often make up the poorest sections of society and see themselves as oppressed and discriminated against. This builds up even more hatred.
So, with that little bit of perspective in mind, let’s get back to Sinwar and Hamas. Not only Hamas, but the Houthis and Hezbollah are all proxies of Iran. They have been relentlessly bombing and terrorizing Israel for years. Keep that in mind and imagine how you would feel if it were bombs and terrorists constantly at your front door.
No doubt Sinwar hoped that October 7th would unite the Arab world—both Shia and Sunni—against Israel, their common enemy, but it didn’t work. The Iranian mullahs hoped they could increase their power in the region. That didn’t work either.
You can read more about Yahya Sinwar and his fascinating life story in my essay:
A Vampire Came to Call: “The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me, with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula
President Trump wooed the Gulf State majority Sunni nations (Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE), just as they wooed him, as he toured the Middle East, snubbing Israel in the process. Trump signed a series of multi-billion-dollar deals. The Saudi Arabian $42 billion arms deal is said to be the largest defense sales agreement in history, reaffirming America's military foothold in a region increasingly eyed by China and Russia.
It is important to note that all of this happened shortly before Trump ordered the attack on Iran. Trump has managed to walk that fine line of maintaining a strong alliance with Israel while at the same time strengthening ties with powerful Sunni Arab nations, keeping them united against Iran and out of the fight against Israel.
Back to the fact that Islam demands the death of every Jew, the destruction of Israel and the death or conversion of every infidel in order to establish the Islamic Caliphate. Because that goal never changes despite temporary alliances. To understand exactly what this means please read my essay:
The Coming Caliphate: "The world has been divided into two camps and two trenches…the camp of Islam and faith, and the camp of kufr (disbelief) and hypocrisy.” ~ ISIS leader Abu al-Baghdadi
And so, with that little background, here is that Epoch Times article:
Here’s How US Strikes on Iran Unfolded
Military planners dubbed the U.S. military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities Operation Midnight Hammer.
By Ryan Morgan
June 22, 2025 Updated: June 22, 2025
WASHINGTON—The U.S. strike on three Iranian nuclear facilities overnight on June 21–22 followed a highly intricate plan that entailed more than 125 U.S. aircraft and warships and layers of deception, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Pentagon news briefing.
Hegseth said preparation for the mission—dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer—took place over the course of weeks and months, “so that we could be ready when the president of the United States called.”
The U.S. strikes were made a week after Israel launched a series of surprise airstrikes across Iran, aimed at degrading the country’s nuclear programs and military capabilities.
Joining the conflict that Israel initiated, U.S. military planners set Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility as their primary target. With the Fordow facility situated hundreds of feet underground in a mountainous region of Iran, U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers carrying 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs, called GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators, offered one of the best options to destroy the facility.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the operation was the longest B-2 bomber mission since 2001, the second longest B-2 mission ever flown, and the first operational use of the GBU-57 bombs.
The Timeline
At the June 22 news briefing, Pentagon personnel presented a timeline for Operation Midnight Hammer.
The operation began just after midnight Eastern time on June 21, as seven B-2 bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, heading east on their way to Iran.
The B-2 bombers received refueling support from dozens of aerial refueling aircraft along their journey across the Atlantic Ocean and over the Mediterranean Sea.
The seven U.S. bombers reached the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility at about 5 p.m. Eastern time on June 22. Just before these bombers entered the Central Command area, U.S. submarines began launching Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets in Iran.
U.S. fighter jets flew ahead of the bombers, and the airstrike package entered Iranian airspace at approximately 6 p.m. Eastern time.
As they flew ahead, U.S. fighter jets began preemptively suppressing Iranian air defense systems around the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities, clearing the way for the bomber crews.
At approximately 6:40 p.m. Eastern time, the lead bomber crews reached the Fordow nuclear facility and dropped two GBU-57 bombs. Over the next 20 minutes, the rest of the bomber crews dropped their payloads over Fordow and Natanz.
The sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles reached the third and final target, Iran’s Isfahan nuclear facility, and concluded the strike operation at approximately 7:05 p.m. Eastern time.
The B-2 bomber crews exited the Iranian airspace at approximately 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
As he delivered remarks on the strikes on the morning of June 22, Hegseth said U.S. air crews were still returning to the United States.
US Drops 14 Heavy Bunker Busters
After the lead bomber dropped its two GBU-57 bombs, the remaining six B-2 bombers each released two of their own heavy bunker busters over the Fordow and Natanz facilities.
In total, these bomber crews dropped 14 bunker buster bombs.
Submarines Launch More Than 2 Dozen Tomahawks
Detailing the operation, Caine said the U.S. submarines involved in the strikes began firing “more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Isfahan.”
The air and sea components of the U.S. strike package were carefully sequenced so that the Tomahawk missile impacts could coincide with the narrow time frame of the rest of the strike package.
Decoys and Deception
The U.S. strike operation entailed several elements of deception in order to misdirect Iran’s defenses.
While the bomber crews responsible for conducting the strikes flew east from Whiteman Air Force Base, Caine announced that some bombers were headed west over the Pacific Ocean.
Caine said it was “a deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.”
The top U.S. general said U.S. forces employed other deception tactics in the course of the mission, but did not specify what those tactics were.
More Than 125 US Aircraft Used
More than 125 military aircraft participated in Operation Midnight Hammer, according to Caine.
He said this included the B-2 stealth bombers, “multiple flights of fourth and fifth generation fighters,” and “dozens and dozens of air refueling tankers.”
A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber performs a flyover of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis on May 8, 2020. Jeff Roberson, File/AP
No Shots Fired by Iran
Emphasizing the surprise nature of the operation, Caine said the U.S. military is unaware of any Iranian forces firing on the U.S. warplanes during the mission.
After US Strikes, Trump Threatens ‘Far Greater’ Attacks If Iran Doesn’t Make Peace
5 Things to Know About the US Strikes on Iran
“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface-to-air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission,” Caine said. “We retained the element of surprise in total.”
Hegseth also said the capabilities and coordination demonstrated by the U.S. forces during the operation will be a key factor dissuading Iran from retaliating.
“We believe that will have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future, and we certainly hope they take the path of negotiated peace,” he said. “But I could not be more proud of how this building operated, of the precision, the sensitivity, and the professionalism of the troops involved in this effort.”
Damage Assessments Ongoing
Hegseth said Operation Midnight Hammer was launched in order to destroy or “severely degrade Iran’s nuclear program.”
The full extent of the damage inflicted on Iran’s three nuclear facilities cannot be independently confirmed at this time. Still, Caine provided an optimistic early outlook.
“I know that battle damage is of great interest,” he said. “Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.”
In a statement shared by Iran’s state-run PressTV shortly after the U.S. strikes, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran vowed that it would continue its work. The Iranian nuclear agency also urged the international community to condemn the attack.
Vice President JD Vance said that he believes that the U.S. airstrikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites have set back the regime’s nuclear program.
“I feel very confident that we have substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon, and that was the goal of this attack. That’s why it was a success,” Vance said on June 22 on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time. I think that it’s going to be many, many years before the Iranians are able to develop a nuclear weapon.”
Prior to the strikes, Israel said that Iran could be just weeks away from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while President Donald Trump had said Iran was weeks to months away from a nuclear bomb.
I hope you found all of this informative. Personally, I think it’s pretty incredible what the United States military, in alliance with Israel, has achieved. I also think it’s perfectly okay to be proud of our country for this achievement.
Will everything magically be better?
No. This war might well get bigger. The fight goes on. In case you need reminding, return to the beginning of this essay/article. Read about the Caliphate, read about Yahya Sinwar, read about the history of Islam. And remember that even if peace comes for a time, the Muslim nations surrounding Israel will now have more weapons than ever before, thanks to the United States. Once the Sunnis take care of their arch enemies the Shias, they will turn their sites on Israel.
1,400 years of hatred—not just against Israel but within two warring factions of Islam— doesn’t end as easily as that. In fact, it never ends until THE END.
Look, in all honesty, nothing says peaceful regime like burying your nuclear enrichment program 100m under a mountain, and having a clock in Palestine Square, Tehran counting down to ‘The Destruction of Israel’ in 2040.
Thank you…Karen…for speaking truth….when so many are promoting lies! Like Candace Owen’s and Tucker Carlson! This battle between Issac and Ishmael has been going on for millennium! It won’t be put to rest…till Jesus comes…and the Jews recognize and receive their Messiah! That will truly be the end! I for one am looking forward to that day! God bless you for this great article….very much appreciated!❤️