45 years after Iran attacked the US, Trump took revenge
For 40 years, Iran’s relentless hostility toward the U.S. has fueled proxy wars, terror attacks, and nuclear ambitions. Now, after diplomatic overtures were rejected, America’s decisive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites signals a historic turning point in the Middle East power struggle.
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For 40 years, Iran has reverberated with the menacing chant of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” a rallying cry born from the 1979 Islamic Revolution under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Last night, Saturday, June 21, 2025, that decades-long hostility faced a decisive response when President Donald Trump authorized a U.S. military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan, declaring them “completely and totally obliterated.” After years of enduring Iran’s aggression, ranging from hostage crises to proxy attacks, Trump had enough. He offered Iran a window to reach a diplomatic agreement, a chance they squandered, leading to a reckoning that has shifted the balance in the Middle East.
The roots of this confrontation trace back to November 4, 1979, when Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. This act set the tone for a 40-year campaign of hostility, with Iran branding the U.S. the “Great Satan” and supporting anti-American militias. In the 1980s, Iran-backed Hezbollah bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983, killing 63, and attacked a Marine barracks, claiming 241 lives. The 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, linked to Iranian operatives, killed 19 U.S. servicemen. More recently, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has orchestrated attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, including a 2020 rocket strike that wounded American troops, and seized oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, disrupting global trade.
Trump, who took office with a promise to confront Iran’s belligerence, initially sought diplomacy. Following Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion” on June 13, 2025, which degraded Iran’s missile capabilities by destroying 120 of 300 launchers, Trump extended a two-week window—announced on June 17—for Iran to negotiate, demanding they halt uranium enrichment. Special envoy Steve Witkoff presented a proposal in Geneva on June 20, offering Iran access to enriched fuel from a regional consortium in exchange for abandoning its nuclear program. Iran’s rejection, coupled with President Masoud Pezeshkian’s June 21 vow to continue retaliation against Israel, exhausted Trump’s patience. In a late Saturday address, he declared, “They had their chance—now they face the consequences.”
The U.S. strike, executed with B-2 Spirit stealth bombers deploying 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles, targeted Fordo’s underground enrichment site, Natanz’s centrifuges, and Isfahan’s nuclear complex. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed no immediate radiation leaks, attributing this to Iran’s preemptive evacuations. This action built on Israel’s 200+ sorties, which killed IRGC leaders like Hossein Salami and Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, and complemented the IAF’s success in thwarting a 70-missile barrage, as noted by Major T., the “Queen of Fire,” in her Yinon Yitach interview.
Iran’s retaliation came early Sunday, June 22, 2025, with missile barrages on Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nes Ziona, and Beer Yaakov, wounding 16 Israelis, including one seriously in Haifa due to failed sirens. The IDF responded with airstrikes on western Iran, targeting launchers. Iran’s 350-400 missile campaign, killing 24 Israelis and injuring over 200, had already shifted to civilian targets, a tactic Major T. highlighted as a mid-conflict adjustment. Tehran’s AI-generated propaganda video from
@nexta_tv
on June 13, showing burning Israeli buildings with a teddy bear, underscored its intent to terrorize.
The human cost is significant: Iran reports 224-639 deaths from Israeli and U.S. strikes, while Israel mourns 24 civilian losses. Former President Bill Clinton’s June 21 plea to avoid civilian casualties resonates, but the strikes focused on military objectives. Iran’s decades of aggression—exacerbated by proxy attacks and its rejection of diplomacy—left few alternatives. Houthi threats to U.S. ships in the Red Sea and Russia’s warnings against targeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, now in a Tehran bunker, signal escalation risks, yet the strike’s success in halting Iran’s nuclear progress, per the IAEA, offers a strategic gain.
Netanyahu praised Trump, stating in a Sunday address, “President Trump’s bold decision… will change history. America has been truly unsurpassed, doing what no other country on Earth could do.” This alliance, forged after Iran ignored Trump’s deadline, has delivered a blow to a regime that has long threatened the U.S. and its allies. As Muslim-majority foreign ministers meet in Istanbul for a ceasefire call, the world may now see a weakened Iran forced to reconsider its stance, proving that 40 years of “Death to America” chants have finally met their match.