US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth said that Washington’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities involved “misdirection” designed to surprise Tehran.
Hegseth said at a briefing on Sunday that the US “does not seek war”.
However he added: “Let me be clear, we will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened.”
Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Dan Caine said the US had employed “several deception tactics” including moving some B-2 bombers to the Pacific Ocean to act as decoys.
He added that all three Iranian nuclear sites targeted had sustained “extremely severe damage”, though he added that the full extent would take time to establish.
Operation Midnight Hammer, as the strike operation was dubbed, involved the second-longest B-2 Spirit bomber mission ever, and marked the first use of the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) “bunker-buster” bombs in conflict.
Seven B-2 bombers carried out the strikes on Iran, dropping a total of 14 MOPs on Fordow and Natanz, Caine said. Isfahan was hit with Tomahawk missiles.
Hegseth said the attacks “took months and weeks of positioning and preparation” to be ready when Trump gave the order.