U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-pound bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites.

The United States attacked three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying the Iranian nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe that prompted fears of a wider regional conflict as Tehran accused Washington of launching "a dangerous war.

President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening that the United States military carried out airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel’s bombing campaign in an effort to cripple Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon.