Next week’s market outlook got even more foggy.
President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday that the United States carried out airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites—Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan—marking a significant escalation in U.S. involvement in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump posted on social media Saturday.
“All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” he added.
“All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!” Trump wrote.
The president is scheduled to address the nation at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, several U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bombers departed Missouri, heading west over the Pacific. These aircraft are among the few capable of deploying the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator—a 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bomb designed to destroy deeply buried targets.
Saturday’s strike places the U.S. in direct armed conflict with Iran, a sharp escalation from its previous posture and a dramatic reversal of President Trump’s prior vow to avoid further entanglement in Middle Eastern wars during his second term.
Just 48 hours earlier, Trump had signaled a wait-and-see approach to the crisis, telling reporters:
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” he said in a Thursday statement released by the White House.
Behind the scenes, the Trump administration had been pushing for a diplomatic resolution, reportedly urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay any major strikes.
That window for diplomacy may have now closed. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned recently:
“Any American military entry will undoubtedly be met with irreparable damage.”
“If they enter militarily, they will face harm that they cannot recover from,” he added on Iranian state TV.
As of Saturday evening, Iran had not issued an official response to the U.S. strikes.
Analysts warn that Iranian retaliation could take many forms, including potential disruption of global oil supplies. One particularly alarming scenario involves mining the Strait of Hormuz—a key chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes.
“We’re already getting reports that Iran is jamming ship transponders very, very aggressively,” said Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, speaking to CNBC’s Fast Money.
QatarEnergy and the Greek Shipping Ministry have already advised vessels to steer clear of the area, Croft noted, with more warnings expected in the wake of the attack.
The Trump administration has consistently maintained that Iran must not obtain nuclear weapons. During his first term, Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration and other global powers, criticizing it as insufficient to safeguard U.S. interests.
While Israel has long accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons and previously conducted cyber operations and targeted assassinations, it had refrained from a full-scale assault—until now.
Earlier this year, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified that:
“The U.S. intelligence community continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.”
But Trump has rejected those assessments.
“I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One last week.
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