US bombs nuclear sites in Iran

Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
22/06/25

The US conducted air strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran, President Donald Trump said Saturday evening.

The US bombers targeted the heavily fortified, underground facility at Fordow and sites at Natanz and Isfahan, Trump said on his social media platform. He said he would make a televised address at 10pm ET Saturday "regarding our very successful military operation in Iran".

"A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," Trump said.

Trump waited until after the US planes had left Iranian airspace before making the announcement.

Israel's air and missile strikes, underway since 13 June, already targeted those three facilities, in addition to some domestic energy infrastructure and urban areas across Iran. UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA on Friday warned of potential nuclear safety hazards from the ongoing Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and cautioned Israel against targeting Iran's Busherh nuclear power plant and a nuclear research laboratory in Tehran.

Washington-based military experts assessed that only the US Air Force had the right type of munitions to destroy Fordow.

Involving the US in the Israel-Iran war is a watershed moment for Trump's presidency. Trump in the past decade often lambasted his predecessors for involving the US in costly and fruitless military adventures in the Middle East. But he has changed his tune since the beginning of Israel's offensive on Iran, claiming that eliminating Iran's nuclear program was worth the US involvement.

Trump's public musings about a possible US role in Israel's campaign against Iran in the past week spurred the oil industry and shipping sectors to increase the risk premiums embedded in their calculations.

Trump since 13 June alternatively held out the prospect of diplomacy and discussed killing senior Iranian leaders. Even today, after the US air strikes, Trump posted that "NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!".

The markets will closely watch Tehran's reaction to the US air strikes.

Most immediately at stake are Iran's 2.5mn b/d of crude, condensate and products exports, which mostly head to China. Oil markets are also concerned about the risk of contagion if Israel and the US draw retaliatory attacks elsewhere in the Mideast Gulf or jeopardize shipping through the strait of Hormuz — the global oil market's single most vulnerable chokepoint, through which pass about 17mn b/d of crude and products, or about a quarter of seaborne oil trade.

By Haik Gugarats

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