Updated: 28 June 2025 la 12:53. Articolul a fost revizuit pentru a reflecta informațiile disponibile la această dată.
Iran’s nuclear programme has returned to the centre of global attention following a series of coordinated actions—covert and official—including clandestine sabotage, precision air strikes and a new doctrine of military deterrence. In this context, Operation Midnight Hammer and the use of Boeing B-2 Spirit bombers mark a turning point in the indirect confrontation between Iran, Israel and the United States.
Iran’s nuclear programme: between civilian energy and military suspicions
Iranian officials maintain that their nuclear programme is dedicated to energy production and medical purposes. However, the level of uranium enrichment has reached 60%—a threshold considered alarming by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Iran has not provided full and transparent access. If enrichment continues, the risk of proliferation becomes real.” — Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director General
Operation Midnight Hammer: a shadow war
Multiple sources, including Haaretz and The Guardian, maintain that Operation Midnight Hammer is a clandestine initiative carried out by Mossad with US support, aimed at sabotaging Iran’s nuclear programme without resorting to conventional war.
For more information on war, see also Trump promises support for Ukraine: details still to be determined, which provides complementary details on this subject.
Examples attributed to this operation include:
- The 2020 explosion at the Natanz facility
- The assassination of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
- Cyberattacks on Iranian power grids
- The destruction of IR-6 centrifuges in 2024
“It is clear that Iran is the target of a sophisticated campaign. Midnight Hammer appears to be only the tip of the iceberg.” — Michael O’Hanlon, Brookings Institution
B-2 bombers and the June 2025 attack
At a moment of peak tension, on 21 June 2025, US Boeing B-2 Spirit aircraft carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The attack, supported by Tomahawk missiles and Israeli air support, was described by former US President Donald Trump as:
“A spectacular strike, of incredible precision, that completely and fully obliterated Iran’s capacity to produce nuclear weapons.” — Donald Trump
Trump added:
“If Iran does not accept peace quickly, there will be future attacks, far larger and easier to carry out.”
The B-2 bombers, launched from Qatar and Diego Garcia, were escorted by F-22 aircraft and used GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs to penetrate Iran’s underground facilities.
The unseen war has become visible
After years of actions in the shadows, the June 2025 strikes mark the first direct, large-scale confrontation between the United States and Iran in the post-JCPOA era. If Midnight Hammer was the secret weapon, the B-2s are now the explicit warning.
In my view, this attack—even if it was a military success—risks generating a wave of violent reactions across the region. Quiet sabotage has been replaced by live brute force. From this point on, diplomatic options will narrow.
Iran has already announced that it will “respond unpredictably and unconventionally”. If this cycle is not broken through dialogue, we will enter a spiral of escalation with consequences that are difficult to predict.
The future of the nuclear deal: between hope and failure
Despite the attacks, negotiations to revive the JCPOA nuclear deal have resumed in Vienna. Iran is demanding the full lifting of sanctions, while the United States and the EU are seeking guarantees that the nuclear programme will not be redirected towards military purposes.
“We have a narrow window for diplomacy. If it closes, peace in the Middle East becomes a utopia.” — Barbara Slavin, Atlantic Council
Conclusion: Midnight Hammer and the B-2 as symbols of a global crisis
Operation Midnight Hammer and the June 2025 bombings are different expressions of the same conflict: the West’s fear of a nuclear-armed Iran. In this war of shadows and military precision, it remains to be seen who wins—and at what cost.
Diplomacy now has the final word. If it does not speak quickly, the future will not be written in treaties, but in the fire of an unprecedented confrontation.
