On June 22, the United States Air Force and Navy attacked three Iranian nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, in an operation called "Midnight Hammer". Seven B-2 bombers of the 509th Bomb Wing flew non-stop from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

Bushehr, which is located around 750km (465 miles) south of Tehran, is Iran's only commercial nuclear power plant. It is run by uranium produced in Russia. Bushehr, home to around 223,504 people, has two large nuclear reactors – one of them still under construction.

Iran's nuclear program began as a result of the Cold War alliance between the United States and the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who emerged as an important US ally in the Persian Gulf. Under the Atoms for Peace program, Iran received basic nuclear research facilities from the United States.