Trump Ups the Ante: America’s Deadliest Bombers Unleashed on Iran

The United States has deployed its most powerful conventional bombers — the B-2 stealth aircraft — in sustained operations against Iran’s buried missile infrastructure, dramatically raising the stakes of a conflict that began seven days ago with the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. President Donald Trump has made clear he intends to continue pressing the offensive until Tehran is broken, demanding unconditional surrender and offering no alternative path.
Friday’s B-2 strikes targeted deeply buried ballistic missile launch sites that cannot be reached by conventional munitions. Dozens of 2,000-pound penetrating bombs were dropped on hardened underground facilities across Iran. The head of US Central Command confirmed the operational details. Separately, a large Iranian naval vessel serving as a drone launch platform was struck and possibly sunk, dealing a blow to Iran’s ability to project asymmetric power across the Gulf.
Israel conducted equally aggressive operations in Lebanon. Its military issued the most sweeping evacuation orders in the country’s recent history, clearing over one million people from their homes in a single day. Dahiyeh, a Beirut neighborhood of more than 600,000 people, was emptied and then struck repeatedly. Israel’s military chief of staff promised new and undisclosed operations were imminent. Hezbollah fought on, launching rockets at northern Israeli communities and wounding five Israeli soldiers with anti-tank fire.
Iran struck back across the region. Missiles and drones were directed at US military bases and oil infrastructure in four Gulf states. Several were successfully intercepted, but others caused damage, including strikes on hotels and a residential building in Bahrain. Missiles were also fired toward Israel. Internet coverage in Iran was cut to approximately 1%, limiting the country’s ability to communicate with the outside world and restricting information about casualties and conditions on the ground.
Trump’s war aims are explicit. Speaking at the White House, he called on Iranians to help overthrow their government and promised immunity to those who did. The White House clarified that Iran would be deemed to have surrendered once Trump judged it no longer posed a threat, whether or not Tehran agreed. Iranian leadership, meanwhile, was meeting to determine how to choose a new supreme leader. For now, the clerical establishment shows no sign of yielding — and Trump shows no sign of stopping.