Iranian nuclear sites sustained 'extremely severe damage' after US strikes, Pentagon says

Iranian nuclear sites sustained "extremely severe damage and destruction" in air strikes, the US has said - a stance mostly supported by the UN's nuclear watchdog.

General Dan Caine, chairman of America's joint chiefs of staff, told reporters that the destruction wrought by Operation Midnight Hammer will take "some time" to assess. But he added that "initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction".

The sites are Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Fordow is a secretive nuclear facility buried about 80m below a mountain and one of two key uranium enrichment plants in Iran, along with Natanz.

Isfahan features a large nuclear technology centre and enriched uranium is also stored there, diplomats say. At Fordow, satellite images taken after the attack show holes in the mountain in which the nuclear site was situated.

Follow latest: US bombers strike three Iranian nuclear sites Images of Natanz, which is also suspected of having an underground facility, appear to show a new hole in a rocky area. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, said the initial assessment was that "all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect".

"Which means, especially in Fordow, which was the primary target here, we believe we achieved destruction of capabilities there," he added. America's attack brings the US into direct involvement in the war between Israel and Iran, which started on 13 June.

It prompted threats of reprisals from Tehran, raising fears of a wider regional conflict. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the facility at Natanz had been "completely destroyed.