Trump’s Operation Midnight Hammer, Ceasefire: EXPLAINED

The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Details of President Donald Trump’s Operation Midnight Hammer were shared Sunday by Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth and other key members of the administration, outlining the importance of wiping out Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

At approximately 6pm EST on June 23, Trump announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a complete and total ceasefire (within 6 hours of the time of writing). Following the ceasefire, both nations have agreed to not engage for 12 hours “at which point the war will be considered ENDED!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World,” Trump continued.

“During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR.’ This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”

What Happened Over The Weekend?

“Last night, on President Trump’s orders, U.S. Central Command conducted a precision strike in the middle of the night against three nuclear facilities in Iran Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan in order to destroy or severely degrade Iran’s nuclear program,” Hegseth said Sunday morning from within the Pentagon, according to Fox News.

“It was an incredible and overwhelming success,” he added. “The order we received from our commander in chief was focused. It was powerful, and it was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program. But it’s worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people for the entirety of his time in office.”

“The mission demonstrated to the world the level of joint and allied integration that speak to the strength of our alliance and our joint forces … As President Trump has stated, the United States does not seek war, but let me be clear: We will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened. Iran should listen to the United States and know that he means it.”

Nuclear In Iran Is A No-Go

Iran has long promised to never enrich uranium, and is technically not allowed to develop nuclear weapons as the leaders of the nation signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. There are deep and well-founded concerns that were Iran to enrich uranium and other nuclear materials to create atomic weapons, those weapons would then be used against anyone Iranian leaders and military personnel deemed an enemy — which includes the U.S.

United States Department of Defense, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The International Atomic Agency has reported findings related to unexplained uranium particles at various, undeclared sites across Iran, raising concerns that the nation is developing a bomb and is hiding it because there are intentions to use it against the U.S., Israel, and any other states deemed enemies of Iran and the extremists within its government. (MORE NEWS: Gavin Newsom Branded With ‘A Viciously Anti-Christian Agenda for America’)

Many Americans are under the false impression that it is unfair for Iran to not have access to nuclear weapons. However, as the state has clearly lied and is in breach of its treaty, there are concerns that Iran would use the weapon against the U.S. and Israel — if the leaders of the nation and its Revolutionary Guard have lied about the existence and development of such weapons, then clearly they are capable of lying about using it against us.

Why any American would support its direct enemy in developing a weapon against us is beyond the comprehension of most with common sense.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Rumors online suggest that many members of Congress were not allowed to know about the mission to destroy these weapons because of concerns that these members would tell Iran about it before it happened — putting millions of American lives at risk, along with huge portions of the entire nation.

‘Highly Classified Mission’

“This was a highly classified mission with very few people in Washington knowing the timing or nature of this plan,” U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said following the mission. ” … At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States as part of the plan to maintain tactical surprise. Part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy. A deception effort, known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.”

At least three nuclear facilities were struck in Iran. B-2 stealth bombers carrying five or six bunker-buster bombs struck Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, while two other sites — Natanz and Isfahan — were also hit.

“Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said following the mission. “And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.”

‘Death to America, Death to Israel’

Along with all major Islamic terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, and more — thought to now be comprehensively under the umbrella of Hamza Bin Laden — Iranian Islamic fundamentalists have chanted “‘‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs,” Trump added. “That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular.”

The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” he continued. “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. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.”

Securing Peace In The Middle East

“As the president put out last night, he wants peace,” Hegseth noted. “There needs to be a negotiated settlement here. We ultimately demonstrated that Iran cannot have a nuclear capability. That is a very clear mission set on this operation.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not commented on the mission. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that diplomacy with the U.S. is unlikely in the wake of the operation. He also hinted that he plans to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to side with Iran on this matter, saying he will travel to Moscow over the weekend. Iran is said to enjoy a “strategic partnership” with Russia.

“I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being directly delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table. They understand precisely what the American position is. Precisely, what steps they can take to allow for peace,” Hegseth said. “And we hope they do so.”

Within days of making these statements, the war was ended.

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