US bombs three major nuclear sites in Iran as officials warn of 'everlasting consequences'

The US has carried out air strikes on three advanced nuclear sites in Iran, as Iranian officials condemn the attack and warn President Donald Trump his actions will have 'everlasting consequences'.

At 7.50pm (Eastern Time) yesterday evening (June 21), the 79-year-old took to Truth Social to announce that America had completed a 'very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan' - which would have been 3.20am today (local time).

In his address to the nation, the Republican explained how the US bombed those three nuclear sites, describing them as part of Iran's 'horribly destructive enterprise'.

"Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," the POTUS said.

"Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace - if they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier."

However, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, there has been 'no increase in off-site radiation levels' at the sites where the US launched its attacks - suggesting that the strikes didn't do as much damage as Trump had hoped.

"IAEA will provide further assessments on situation in Iran as more information becomes available," it said in a statement.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, took to Twitter following the attack to condemn the US' actions while issuing a threat that America will face consequences over the decision to bomb its nuclear sites.

Smoke and flames can be seen at an alleged nuclear site in the mountains of Shiraz, Iran (HIROON/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

"The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior," he wrote in part.

It comes as three US stealth bombers were spotted flying out from military bases in the US in the past couple of days, heading towards Diego Garcia, a small island in the Indian Ocean that is used as a military base by the UK and US.

Iran and weapons-grade uranium

Iran has been accused of attempting to develop a nuclear warhead, mining large quantities of uranium before enriching it to 60 percent - with Iran having no purpose to enrich the material to such a high percentage.

For those unaware, natural uranium contains a percentage of roughly 0.7 percent of the isotope uranium-235, which on its own isn't usable as fuel for nuclear reactors - and needs to be enriched to 3.5 percent by removing the isotope uranium-238.

However, as previously mentioned, Iran has been producing and storing enriched uranium at 60 percent on mass - which would mean it's done most of the work needed to enrich it to weapon-grade uranium (WGU), which is typically deemed at 90 percent.

Infographic of the US' bombing of Iran's key nuclear sites (Murat Usubali/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How close is Iran to a nuclear weapon?

The Institute for Science and International Security, a non-profit watchdog, estimates that it has enough highly enriched uranium that it could create almost a dozen nuclear bombs in a month - if the uranium was enriched to 90 percent.

Its monitoring report issued on June 9 stated that one of Iran's factories could produce weapons-grade uranium (WGU) in just days.

Chillingly, it read: "Iran could produce its first quantity of 25 kg of WGU in Fordow in as little as two to three days.

"Breaking out in both Fordow and the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), the two facilities together could produce enough WGU for 11 nuclear weapons in the first month, enough for 15 nuclear weapons by the end of the second month, 19 by the end of the third month, 21 by the end of the fourth month, and 22 by the end of the fifth month."