The United States Bombs Iran for 12 Straight Days... Could Strike Nuclear Facilities Within Days

[Financial News] The United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which is in charge of attacks on Iran, said in a statement on the 22nd local time that it had carried out airstrikes against Iran for 12 consecutive days. The United States is also said to be preparing to escalate its attacks in the coming days and strike Iran's nuclear facilities directly.
CENTCOM posted on X that "U.S. forces launched additional airstrikes against Iranian military targets at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, under the direction of the commander in chief, U.S. President Donald Trump." It added, "The mission will continue to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial shipping transiting regional waterways." It did not specify the bombing targets.
The two sides, which signed a ceasefire memorandum with Iran on the 17th of last month and agreed to a 60-day truce, are now effectively back at war. After striking Iran on June 26-27 last month, the United States bombed Iran again on the 7th and 9th of this month, then carried out daily airstrikes from the 11th through the 22nd. Trump had already notified the U.S. Congress of the resumption of combat on the 10th.
Foreign media outlets predicted that the United States would intensify the air campaign further. In a report on the 22nd, Israel's public broadcaster Kan claimed that the United States plans to step up strikes on Iran within days and use heavy bombers to hit the country's secret nuclear facilities. The outlet said the United States had informed Israel of the plan and claimed that U.S. bombers were expected to strike Pickaxe Mountain in Iran. Pickaxe Mountain is a mountain at an elevation of around 1,600 meters near Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility. Iran is believed to have been building a centrifuge facility underground in the area since 2020 for producing enriched uranium.
Trump had already mentioned Pickaxe Mountain when speaking with reporters at The White House on the 21st. "We will hit that area very hard very soon," he said. Trump stressed, "If there is any place they are even thinking about in connection with nuclear issues, we will hit it very, very hard." When asked whether Iran had moved centrifuges for producing enriched uranium to Pickaxe Mountain, he said, "They may have," but added, "If there is no nuclear material, that means nothing."

Israeli media speculated that the reason the United States gave advance notice of the strike plan was to prepare for the possibility that Iran would escalate retaliation, including firing missiles at Israel. Kan said Israel has remained at the highest level of alert since receiving the U.S. notice.

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