Trump’s Iran ultimatum started a 60-day clock ticking for decisive June strikes, bomber commander reveals

When President Donald Trump drew a red line on Iran’s nuclear program, U.S. bombers immediately began preparing to enforce it, according to the general who commanded June’s strike mission.

And, Gen. Jason Armagost told Fox News Digital, the operation proved decisive: “We reestablished deterrence, and all of our adversaries watched that.”

In the spring, Trump wrote a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanding “progress” in nuclear talks and offering a 60-day deadline.

When he learned Trump gave the two-month ultimatum, Armagost, commander of the 8th Air Force and all bomber forces, immediately began setting a plan in motion to present the president with strike options. 

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White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian representatives in Oman, but negotiations reportedly stalled out over Iranian demands for what they called a civil nuclear enrichment capacity.

 “Two months ago, I gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’ They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!” Trump wrote after the strikes. 

“When I heard that [60-day warning], immediately in my head I said, okay, we’ve got 60 days… we knew we would be a military option at the expiration of that,” Armagost said. 

Mission planning was “far more expansive” than the single round of strikes that B2 bomber crews ended up executing. 

“We’re building readiness to be ready to do numerous options that would support, potentially, a campaign, right? This was a strategic attack, but we look at all the time, at, okay, what is the next thing that has to happen? Or might we be asked to do?”

Luckily, the Iranian nuclear sites were in remote areas, so planners did not have to account for civilian casualty rates. But still, they got to planning every detail, down to who would be in the facilities at the time of impact. 

Then, 14 B-2 pilots flying seven stealth bombers prepared for the 30-hour journey from Whiteman, Mo., to Iran and back. They dropped 14 massive ordnance penetrators (MOPs) on Iran’s nuclear sites deep underground.

“Global operations are hard,” said Armagost. “You go through different weather, you go through daylight cycles that are abnormal because you’re flying eastbound and then westbound … intellectually, it’s demanding.”

Aerial refueling tankers made the marathon mission possible. Clouds, weather shifts and even the failure of a single refueling jet could have jeopardized the strike, Armagost said. But meticulous planning and backup tracks kept the B-2s airborne.

“That’s really what makes us arguably a superpower,” he said. “Russia’s and China’s bomber forces are regional, not global.”

The general said the public should not measure success simply by the precision of the strike, but by the deterrent effect it produced.

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“About 30 hours after the attack, there was a ceasefire,” Armagost said. “Clearly the Iranians saw that, and saw the path forward had changed dramatically. All of our adversaries watch that, and they will make different choices as a result.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned after the strikes: “Americans should expect greater damage and blows than ever before.” The regime struck a U.S. airbase in Qatar, al-Udeid, but damage was minimal and no one was injured. 

Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire days later on June 24. 

Armagost also acknowledged the strain on America’s bomber force. At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. had around 770 long-range bombers across 36 wings. Today, that number has dwindled to about 140 bombers in total.

Now, the Air Force looks to the B-21, the next-generation stealth bomber and successor of the B-2. That plane is expected to be easier to update with new technologies and cost less than half the price: around $800 million instead of $2 billion. 

The Air Force plans to acquire around 100 B-21s, though discussions are underway if the service branch may need more. 

“It’s a national-level discussion,” said Armagost. “We have to decide as a country or with our partners and allies, what kind of ability we need to have to project force around the world facing multiple or multiple adversaries, who in some cases will, will, coordinate and act together to disrupt us.”

Armagost compared Operation Midnight Hammer to another historic mission of the 509th bomber wing, which dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago, killing 200,000 and ending a world war.

“There’s about six weeks’ difference,” Armagost said. “Both were strategic attacks that changed history.”

 “Nobody wants to see Iran with nuclear weapons. This was about reestablishing deterrence against a regime that everyone knows would be destabilizing with that capability.”