a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict. There was no immediate acknowledgment from Iran of any strikes being carried out.

The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that aimed to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in a post on social media. “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.”

Trump added in a later post that he would address the national at 10 p.m. Eastern time, writing “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”

Trump said B-2 stealth bombers were used but did not specify what types of bombs were dropped. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation.

The strikes are a perilous decision, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if the US joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally. He won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. Trump told reporters Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran, saying it’s “the last thing you want to do”. He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks. (Jamaica Gleaner)