Pilots who flew Iran mission attending White House July 4 event

The authorities of Iran's atomic sites

U.N. atomic main says Iran's programme damaged but not destroyed aft U.S. strikes 02:39

Washington — The U.S. pilots who flew successful a bombing ngo targeting Iranian atomic facilities volition be the White House's July 4 solemnisation this week, White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said Monday.

The lawsuit is besides expected to diagnostic a flyover by B-2 Spirit bombers, the jets that were utilized to onslaught Iran's uranium enrichment sites astatine Fordo and Natanz earlier this period successful an cognition ordered by President Trump. 

Additional unit from Whiteman Air Force Base successful Missouri — wherever the bombers are based — volition besides be the event, which is expected to diagnostic remarks from Mr. Trump.

"President Trump looks guardant to celebrating our nation's founding connected Friday successful the nation's capital. To articulation successful the celebration, the mightiness of America's Air Force volition behaviour a flyover featuring our state-of-the-art F-22s, B-2s, and F-35s - the aforesaid aerial capabilities utilized for the decisive and palmy strikes connected Iran's atomic facilities," Leavitt said successful a statement.

Mr. Trump archetypal said the pilots would beryllium invited to the White House astatine immoderate constituent successful an interrogation with Maria Bartiromo connected Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" past weekend.

The Pentagon said seven B-2 bombers participated successful the strikes connected Fordo and Natanz, flying continually for the full 36-hour circular travel from Missouri to Iran and backmost — requiring aggregate mid-air refuelings and assistance from combatant jets. The B-2s dropped 14 "bunker buster" bombs connected Fordo and Natanz, portion submarines launched cruise missiles astatine Iran's Isfahan atomic site.

Separately, different radical of B-2s flew implicit the Pacific to enactment arsenic decoys.

Mr. Trump has described the cognition — which came aft a more-than-weeklong Israeli bombardment of Iranian targets — arsenic an unqualified success, saying cardinal Iranian atomic facilities were "obliterated" successful the strikes.

The nonstop scope of the harm is unclear. One preliminary quality study assessed the atomic programme whitethorn person been acceptable backmost by little than a year, but immoderate officials have pushed backmost connected those findings and accidental caller quality indicates the programme was acceptable backmost by "years."

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the caput of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran's atomic capabilities faced "severe damage," but not "total damage," successful an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation."