US has struck three Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says, joining Israeli air campaign

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the U S military struck three sites in Iran directly joining Israel s effort to decapitate the country s nuclear undertaking in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict The decision to directly involve the U S comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities But U S and Israeli administrators have commented that American stealth bombers and a -lb bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear undertaking buried deep underground We have completed our very thriving attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran including Fordow Natanz and Esfahan Trump reported 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 The strikes are a perilous decision for the U S as Iran has pledged to retaliate if it joined the Israeli assault and for Trump personally having won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism THIS IS A URGENT NEWS UPDATE AP s earlier story follows below TEL AVIV Israel AP Israel s military explained Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war while Iran s foreign minister warned that U S military involvement would be very very dangerous for everyone The prospect of a wider war threatened too Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen stated they would resume attacks on U S vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joins Israel s military campaign The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the U S The U S ambassador to Israel informed the U S has begun assisted departure flights the first from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct that sparked the war in Gaza Israel s military announced it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in pursuit of its goal to destroy Iran s nuclear scheme Smoke rose near a mountain in Isfahan where the province s deputy governor for safeguard affairs Akbar Salehi ratified Israeli strikes damaged the facility The target was a centrifuge production site Israel s military commented The International Atomic Resource Agency ratified the attack and disclosed the facility also targeted in the war s first day was extensively damaged but that there was no pitfall of off-site contamination Iran again launched drones and missiles at Israel but there were no reports of crucial damage An Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines estimated the military has taken out more than of Iran s launchers We re making it harder for them to fire toward Israel he explained The Israeli military s chief spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin later announced Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir communicated the army to prepare for a prolonged campaign US aerial refueling tankers on the move U S President Donald Trump is weighing proceeding U S military involvement in the war and was set to meet with his national measure squad Saturday evening He has mentioned he would put off his decision for up to two weeks Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi revealed U S military involvement would be very very dangerous for everyone He spoke on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Turkey Araghchi was open to further dialogue but emphasized that Iran had no interest in negotiating with the U S while Israel continues to attack Barring a commando raid or even a nuclear strike Iran s underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered out of reach to all but America s bunker-buster bombs The U S has only configured and programmed its B- Spirit stealth bomber to deliver the bomb according to the Air Force On Saturday multiple U S aerial refueling tankers were spotted on commercial flight trackers flying patterns consistent with escorting aircraft from the central U S to the Pacific B- bombers are based in Missouri It was not clear whether the aircraft were a show of force or prepared for an operation The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment The war s toll The war erupted June with Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran s nuclear and military sites top generals and nuclear scientists At least people including civilians have been killed in Iran and more than wounded according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group One Tehran resident Nasrin writhed in her hospital bed as she described how a blast threw her against her apartment wall I ve had five surgeries I think I have nothing right here that is intact she stated Saturday Another person Shahram Nourmohammadi mentioned he had been making deliveries when something blew up right in front of me Several Iranians have fled the country Everyone is leaving Tehran right now announced one who did not give his name after traveling into Armenia For a large number of Iranians it is formidable to know what s going on Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks org disclosed Saturday that limited internet access had again collapsed A nationwide internet shutdown has lasted for several days Iran has retaliated by firing more than missiles and drones at Israel according to Israeli army estimates Israel s multitiered air defenses have shot down the bulk of them but at least people in Israel have been killed and over wounded No date has been set for more talks after negotiations in Geneva failed to produce a breakthrough Friday Iran s nuclear activity Iran has long maintained its nuclear project is for peaceful purposes but it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels of Israel is widely presumed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear weapons scheme but has never acknowledged it Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has noted Israel s military operation will continue for as long as it takes to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran s nuclear venture and ballistic missile arsenal Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian disclosed Saturday that his country will never renounce its right to nuclear power which cannot be taken away from it through war and threats Pezeshkian recounted French President Emmanuel Macron via phone that Iran is ready to provide guarantees and confidence-building measures to demonstrate the peaceful nature of its nuclear pursuits according to IRNA the state-run news agency Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a deal in exchange for sanctions relief But after Trump pulled the U S out of the deal during his first term Iran began enriching uranium up to and restricting access to its nuclear facilities Iran has insisted on its right to enrich uranium at lower levels in newest talks over its nuclear activity But Trump like Israel has demanded Iran end its enrichment project altogether Attacks on Iranian military commanders Israel s defense minister mentioned the military killed a paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commander who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the Oct attack on Israel Iranian authorities did not promptly confirm Saeed Izadi s death but the Qom governor s office commented a four-story apartment building was hit and local media released two people had been killed Israel also reported it killed the commander of the Quds Force s weapons transfer unit who it commented was responsible for providing weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas Behnam Shahriyari was killed while traveling in western Iran the military mentioned Iran threatens head of UN nuclear watchdog Iranian leaders say IAEA chief Rafael Grossi s statements about the status of Iran s nuclear effort prompted Israel s attack On Saturday a senior adviser for Iran s Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei Ali Larijani noted on social media without elaboration that Iran would make Grossi pay once the war is over Grossi on Friday warned against attacks on Iran s nuclear reactors particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr A direct hit would product in a very high release of radioactivity Grossi reported adding This is the nuclear site in Iran where the consequences could be largest part serious Israel has not targeted Iran s nuclear reactors instead focusing on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz centrifuge workshops near Tehran laboratories in Isfahan and the country s Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital Rising released from Dubai United Arab Emirates Associated Press writers Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul Josef Federman in Jerusalem Samy Magdy in Cairo Matthew Lee in Washington D C and Farnoush Amiri and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this assessment This story has been corrected to show Israel hit one centrifuge production site not two