Donald Trump’s administration is preparing for a potential response from Iran to strikes on nuclear facilities in that country, and the next 48 hours are of particular concern, two Pentagon sources and a senior White House official told NBC News.
The reporters’ interlocutors said it was not yet clear whether the response to U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities would be directed at overseas or domestic U.S. facilities or both at once.
Overseas US military bases have been on maximum alert for the past several months, but White House sources said concerns about possible attacks have increased significantly since Israel went to war with Iran on 13 June.
On the night of 22 June, US B-2 bombers carried out air strikes against Iran. The US presidential administration said the military used six anti-bunker bombs against the Fordow facility and launched 30 Tomahawk missiles from submarines against sites in Natang and Isfahan. Iran confirmed the attacks on uranium enrichment facilities. Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to Iran’s parliament speaker, says Iran anticipated the attack on Fordow, so “the facility was evacuated long ago and the damage is not irreversible.”