Defence secretary denies US is pursuing policy of regime change after strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
Middle East crisis – latest updates
The surprise overnight US attack on Iran inflicted major damage and destruction on three of its key nuclear sites, senior Pentagon officials said, as the US defence secretary denied that the Trump administration was pursuing a policy of regime change in the Middle East.
In a press conference in Washington, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, detailed Operation Midnight Hammer, in which seven B-2 Spirit bombers flew 18 hours from the US to sites in Iran to drop 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in strikes that were said to have caused “extremely severe damage” to Iranian uranium enrichment facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Caine said it was not clear whether Iran retained some nuclear capability and he stopped short of using the same language as Donald Trump, who said the sites had been “completely and totally obliterated”.
