US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the US military carried out aerial strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, following days of appeals by Israel for the American military to join its attacks on the Islamic republic, and vowed to launch more attacks if Tehran does not stand down.

Trump delivered a late night televised address from the White House, calling the strikes a “spectacular military success”.

Flanked by Vice-President J.D. Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump warned that future attacks would be “far greater” unless Iran pursued a diplomatic solution.

Trump said Iran “must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.

“Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal, but if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill, most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.”

The US president said earlier on social media that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated” and that the US had “completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan”.