US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has revealed that the strike on Iran took months and weeks of positioning and preparation.
In a briefing, he said, “This is a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and preparation, so that we could be ready when the President of the United States called.”
US Secretary of Defense added, “It took a great deal of precision. It involved misdirection and the highest level of operational security. Our B-2 bombers went in and out of these nuclear sites without the world knowing at all.”
Hegseth said that the Trump administration “complied with the notification requirements of the War Powers Act,” and informed members of Congress of the attacks immediately “after the planes were safely out.”
US General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the attack on Iran was “planned and executed across multiple domains” of the military.
He confirmed that B-2 bombers were launched from the United States on Friday for an 18-hour flight to their targets as part of the “strike package”.
“Operation Midnight Hammer” included several “deception and decoy” manoeuvres. High-speed suppression fire was used to protect the B-2s, and Caine said there’s no indication that “any shots were fired” by Iranian defences.
“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears Iran’s missile systems did not see us,” Caine told a press conference at the Pentagon.
