By Sama Marwan ,
“Hidden deception” — that’s how The Wall Street Journal described the second American deception plan to mislead Iran, at a time when the U.S. was preparing to launch a devastating strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
On Saturday morning, flight trackers observed a group of U.S. B-2 stealth bombers taking off from their airbase in Missouri and heading west over the Pacific Ocean — but it was merely a ruse.
Hours later, a group of stealth bombers attacked Iran’s most critical nuclear facilities from the east, according to U.S. defense officials. The targets were hit with bunker buster bombs, believed to have the highest chance of successfully penetrating fortified structures. President Trump said U.S. submarines also launched cruise missiles at the Natanz and Isfahan facilities.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the maneuver allowed the U.S. to insert bombers over Iran more quickly and with a reduced risk of detection. The timing also helped conceal the true objective of the mission. In the days leading up to the strike, Trump had said he would wait two weeks before deciding whether to join Israel in its war against Iran and that he was giving diplomacy a chance. Until Saturday morning, no orders had yet been issued to prepare for the strike.
The effect of these maneuvers and public statements was to create the impression that Iran still had time before any bombs would fall.
A defense official, speaking about the western deception that masked the attacking bombers, said:
“It was indeed a trick. Concealing them and preserving the element of surprise was absolutely crucial.”
Trump gave the final order to proceed on Saturday afternoon (U.S. Eastern Time) from his private club in New Jersey.
A senior U.S. administration official said of the timing of the president’s order:
“The goal was to create a situation no one expected.”
This marked the second time in the ongoing week-long conflict that Iran may have been misled — at least partially — by talk of diplomacy. The first Israeli strike came just days before a scheduled meeting between American and Iranian officials in Oman for a sixth round of nuclear talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi complained about the deception behind the latest strike.
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul about the timing, Araghchi said:
“We were in the middle of negotiations.” Referring to the Trump administration, he added:
“I believe they’ve proven they are not men of diplomacy and that they understand only the language of threats and force. This is truly unfortunate.”
