Since the 1979 revolution, Iran's regime has conducted terrorist attacks and assassinations in more than 20 countries. In July 2018, authorities foiled the regime's terrorist plot against Iranian dissidents living in Paris. In 2019, the regime kidnapped a journalist in Iraq and killed an opposition figure in Turkey.

President Trump and Vice President Vance in the Situation Room on June 21 during the strikes. President Trump delivers his announcement. On June 22, the United States Air Force and Navy attacked three Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

Iran is not known to currently possess weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and has signed treaties repudiating the possession of WMD including the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).