...
By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force General Dan Caine revealed what a pilot said to him after seeing the blast from the strike on the Iranian nuclear facility deep in the mountain at Fordow.
Caine said the pilot, who was in a jet trailing the B-2 bombers that dropped the 30,000-pound GBU57 bunker-busters on the target, told him: "This was the brightest explosion that I've ever seen, it literally looked like daylight."
The Pentagon gave a briefing on Thursday morning about the bombing raid, sharing more details about the operation, what the intelligence indicates, and those involved.
Read More on U.S.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed back hard against earlier media reports of a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment that underestimated the extent of the damage caused by the strikes. President Donald Trump has described it as "total obliteration."
Iran Operation 'Felt Like the Super Bowl'
There were male and female aviators involved in the Iran mission, Caine said. They were from the active duty Air Force and the Missouri Air National Guard.
"A crew member told me when I talked to them on video the other day that this felt like the Super Bowl, the thousands of scientists, airmen, and maintainers all coming together," Caine said.
"When the crews went to work on Friday, they kissed their loved ones goodbye, not knowing when or if they'd be home.
"Late on Saturday night, their families became aware of what was happening. And on Sunday, when those jets returned from Whiteman, their families were there. Flags flying and tears flowing. I have chills literally talking about this."
...
Fordow Intelligence Took 15 Years
Caine also spoke about the 15 years of intelligence work by two Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) officers who had studied the Fordow facility and whose work contributed to the development of a bunker-buster bomb that could penetrate it.
The pair "lived and breathed this single target, Fordow, a critical element of Iran's covert nuclear weapons program," Caine said, studying its construction in great detail.
The officers monitored "every nook, every crater, every piece of equipment going in and every piece of equipment going out," he said.
"They literally dreamed about this target at night when they slept. They thought about it driving back and forth to work. And they knew from the very first days what this was for," Caine said.
"You do not build a multilayered, underground bunker complex with centrifuges and other equipment in a mountain for any peaceful purpose."
Trump Says US-Iran Talks Due
Tehran said its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes, but it had stockpiles of uranium enriched to a level that far exceeded what was necessary and was a short step away from weapons-grade.
Trump said the U.S. and Iran are due to hold fresh talks about the nuclear issue. He said Iran cannot rebuild its facilities or enrich uranium, and that he would act again militarily if he saw the need. He urged Iran to pursue peace, diplomacy and trade instead.
"We're going to talk to them next week, with Iran," Trump said at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday. "We may sign an agreement. I don't know."
On Thursday, Iran's Guardian Council announced that it had approved its parliament's decision to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, which had been monitoring its facilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed the day before that the attacks will have "serious and profound effects on the course of the nuclear program," adding: "We need to rethink how we protect our nuclear facilities."
Update 6/26/25, 10:45 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines