Trump ordered U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites
Operation Midnight Hammer struck Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on Trump's orders. The Defense Department's 2026 civilian-casualty report assessed no civilian casualties from the operation, and the IAEA reported no increase in off-site radiation levels after the strikes. Those observations do not resolve the separate dispute over the operation's legal basis.
Entities and roles
- Operation Midnight HammerU.S. strike operation
- Donald J. Trumppresident ordering the operation
- Islamic Republic of Iranstate where the targets were located
Claims and evidence
- factdocumented
The Defense Department's 2026 annual assessment reported no civilian casualties from Operation Midnight Hammer, and the IAEA reported no increase in off-site radiation levels after the strikes.
- U.S. Department of Defense: Annual Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection with United States Military Operations in 2025Operation Midnight Hammer section
- International Atomic Energy Agency: IAEA update on developments in IranJune 22 update on off-site radiation levels
- factdocumented
At Trump's direction, U.S. forces carried out Operation Midnight Hammer against Iran's Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025.
- U.S. Department of Defense: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine Hold a Press BriefingJune 22, 2025 briefing describing presidential direction and three target sites
Measurements
Cross-border uses of force1 operation - Basis
- Observed
- Population
- Operation Midnight Hammer strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025
- Period
- 2025-06-22 to 2025-06-22
- Method
- Counted the coordinated operation as one cross-border use of force, rather than counting each target or weapon.
- Uncertainty
- The observation does not encode a legal conclusion about self-defense or aggression.