US journalist: President Trump approved attack on Iran's nuclear facility

According to RIA Novosti, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh cited sources saying that the administration of US President Donald Trump had approved US participation in the attack on Iran.

"I understand that the White House has approved a full-scale bombing of Iran," journalist Hersh wrote in an article citing US officials and Israeli sources.

According to Hersh’s sources, the centrifuges at the Fordow nuclear facility, which are buried at least 80 meters underground, will not be attacked until the end of the week. The start of the airstrikes was delayed until the end of the week at the request of President Trump. Because of the deep location of the Fordow nuclear facility, US bombers carrying bunker-busting bombs will be used.

The US leader wants the "shock" from the bombing to be minimised when Wall Street opens for trading on Monday.

CBS News reported on June 19, citing reliable sources, that President Trump is leaning toward attacking Iran's Fordow nuclear facility to prevent the Islamic Republic from possessing nuclear weapons in the near future.

The United States denies reports that its bunker-buster bombs would be unreliable in destroying Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment center and continues to consider using all types of weapons in the event of an attack on Iran, including tactical nuclear weapons, Fox News senior White House correspondent Jackie Heinrich reported, citing a Trump administration official.

Meanwhile, the New York Times quoted US intelligence sources as saying that the Iranian government could move to build nuclear weapons if military pressure on the Islamic Republic increases.