The successful U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites conducted Saturday night are not a prelude to a broader regime-change campaign, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Sunday morning press briefing.

The strikes on nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan resulted in “severe damage and destruction," but it’s “way too early” to determine whether Iran retains some nuclear capability, General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

“This mission was not and is not about regime change,” Hegseth insisted, pointing out that the operation was intentionally “limited in scope” and did not involve the targeting of any Iranian people, military or civilian.

The mission, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, was the “largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history,” Caine said, involving seven B-2 Spirit Bombers that made an 18-hour flight from Missouri to Iran, complete with multiple in-air refuelings. The operation was also supported by a nuclear submarine which launched Tomahawk missiles toward the site at Isfahan as the bombers dropped a total of 14 Massive Ordnance Penetrators on the sites at Fordow and Natanz.

Addressing the nation Saturday night after the strikes, President Trump struck a more bullish tone than Caine would the following day. According to the president, Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities were “completely and totally obliterated” by the strikes.

“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Trump said. “If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”

“For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to American, Death to Israel,'” the president added. “I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel.”

America's involvement in the Israel-Iran war was a limited intervention to force peace negotiations, the president added. The announcement comes after a fraught two weeks of missile exchanges between Israel and Iran after Israel first launched an air strike against Iran’s nuclear program earlier in June.

Although Trump exhausted diplomatic solutions with Iran, including demanding that Iran dismantle its uranium enrichment capabilities at sites like Fordow, he was clear that if Iran refused his terms of zero enrichment, the U.S. would aid Israel in its air strikes.

Intelligence suggests that if U.S. and Israeli forces hadn’t acted to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, the Iranian regime could have produced a nuclear weapon within weeks.

“America has done what no other country on earth could do,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime, the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

The president said on Thursday that the U.S. would give itself two weeks to decide to either engage in strikes or pursue diplomatic negotiations. Trump felt before Saturday’s attack that negotiations were deadlocked, and now hopes that the strikes will bring the Iranian regime back to the table, CNN reported.

“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump said on Saturday. “If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill; most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.”

Trump warned Iran this week that America's "patience is wearing thin," and has been insistent throughout his political career that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Although Israel launched an impressive campaign against Iranian nuclear sites, major oil refineries, and military officials — including nuclear scientists — only the U.S. could dispense the deep-ground-penetrating bombs needed to destroy Tehran's subterranean enrichment facilities.

Saturday's strikes mark the first time the U.S. has used the 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or the bunker-busting bomb, which was necessary to destroy Fordow, Iran’s fortified nuclear facility built into a mountainside.

Israel was notified of Saturday’s strikes before they occurred, according to defense officials, as Israel possessed control of Iranian airspace. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former defense minister, praised Trump for his “bold decision” carried out “for all of humanity.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) were also briefed on the attacks ahead of time, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Saturday’s events “should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says. . . . This is America First policy in action,” Johnson said.

Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened recently that “any American military entry will undoubtedly be met with irreparable damage,” and added, “If they enter militarily, they will face harm that they cannot recover from.”

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