Donald Trump Says Operation Midnight Hammer Obliterated Iran Nuclear Dust Sites

US President Donald Trump said late Monday that recovering uranium from Iran would be a "long and difficult process" after last year’s US strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities, framing the task as digging through rubble from what he called a near-total destruction.

“Trump says recovery of Iran's enriched uranium will require 'long and difficult process' 'Operation Midnight Hammer was a complete and total obliteration of the Nuclear Dust sites in Iran,' says US president Michael Gabriel Hernandez 21 April 2026•Update: 21 April 2026 Washington US President Donald Trump said Monday that the retrieval of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile will require a "long and difficult process”

Anadolu Ajansı

In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that "Operation Midnight Hammer was a complete and total obliteration of the Nuclear Dust sites in Iran," adding, "Therefore, digging it out will be a long and difficult process."

Anadolu Ajansı

Multiple outlets repeated the same core language, including The Times of India, which reported Trump’s posting and his criticism of media coverage, writing that "Fake News CNN, and other corrupt Media Networks and Platforms, fail to give our great aviators the credit they deserve - Always trying to demean and belittle - LOSERS!!!"

The Straits Times similarly described Trump’s late April 21 statement that the United States obtaining uranium from Iran would be “long” and “difficult,” quoting his Truth Social line about “complete and total obliteration” and “digging it out.”

TRT World and Türkiye Today also carried Trump’s remarks that retrieving Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile would require a “long and difficult process,” again tying the claim to “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

The competing details across the coverage focus less on Trump’s wording than on what the remarks mean for negotiations as a ceasefire deadline approaches, with Forbes stating the fate of the second round of peace talks remained uncertain as the ceasefire set to expire on Wednesday.

Trump’s comments landed as preparations continued for possible high-level talks between Washington and Tehran in Pakistan, with multiple reports tying the diplomatic timetable to the ceasefire’s end.

Türkiye Today said the remarks came as preparations continued for possible high-level talks in Pakistan, and that Trump said Sunday that US representatives would travel to Islamabad for negotiations, while Iran had not officially confirmed participation and had called for the lifting of the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

bloomingbit

TRT World and Anadolu Ajansı similarly described Trump’s remarks as coming ahead of potential high-level talks in Pakistan, and both noted that Trump announced on Sunday that US representatives would fly to Islamabad for negotiations while Tehran had yet to officially confirm its participation.

Forbes added that the fate of the second round of peace talks remained uncertain as the ceasefire set to expire on Wednesday, and it reported that Vice President JD Vance and other US officials were expected to travel to Islamabad on Tuesday.

The Jerusalem Post’s live updates also described a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the US set to expire on Wednesday, with both sides accusing each other of breaching it.

News18 and Reuters reporting embedded in its text said the ceasefire announced by Trump on April 7 was expected to expire this week and that a Pakistani source involved in the talks said the truce would end at 8 pm ET on Wednesday, corresponding to midnight GMT or 3.30 am Thursday in Iran.

Iranian officials and negotiators pushed back on the framing of the nuclear material and the conditions for talks, with Reuters-linked reporting and other outlets quoting Tehran’s positions in direct language.

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Forbes reported that Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf wrote on X that “By enforcing a siege and breaking the truce, Trump delusionally aims to either turn talks into capitulation or excuse fresh hostilities,” and it added that he warned: “We will not hold negotiations under threat, and in the last two weeks, we have prepared to play new cards on the battlefield.”

The same Forbes report said Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters that Iran had made “no decision” on attending, while it also cited Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian tweeting: “Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward U.S. gov conduct remains, while unconstructive & contradictory signals from American officials carry a bitter message; they seek Iran's surrender. Iranians do not submit to force.”

News18’s Reuters-linked text said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Reuters that “continued violations of the ceasefire” by the United States presented a significant obstacle to progress in negotiations, and it described Araqchi conveying Iran’s position during a phone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

News18 also said Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, criticized Washington on X, accusing Trump of increasing pressure on Tehran through what he described as blockade measures and ceasefire violations, and it stated that Qalibaf said Iran rejects negotiations conducted under threat.

The Times of India reported that Trump had repeatedly maintained that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile would eventually be transferred to US territory, while Iran’s foreign ministry denied plans to hand over the material.

While Trump’s claim about “complete and total obliteration” was repeated across multiple outlets, at least one report emphasized that the assertion lacked specific supporting evidence.

Bloomingbit’s account said Trump “Repeats Unsubstantiated Claim Iran Nuclear Sites Were ‘Completely Destroyed’” and described that he offered “no specific evidence to support the claim,” even as it noted that the ceasefire’s approach made the extent of damage and handling of uranium key variables in negotiations.

CNBC

The Times of Israel’s coverage also reproduced Trump’s Truth Social language, but it framed the dispute by noting that Trump had previously claimed the June operation during the 12-day war successfully destroyed Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities and that he had recently claimed Tehran agreed to allow the material to be shipped out, while Iranian officials insisted on “nuclear rights” and had not agreed to such a term.

The Times of India and other outlets described Trump’s use of “nuclear dust” to describe Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which Washington alleges Tehran has accumulated as part of efforts to build an atomic bomb, and it also said Trump has at times used the term to refer to debris and residual material left after US strikes.

Forbes and News18 both described Trump’s media criticism in his Truth Social post, including the line about “Fake News CNN, and other corrupt Media Networks and Platforms” failing to give “our great aviators” credit.

Across the set of reports, the same core claim appears in similar wording, but the framing differs between outlets that stress the lack of evidence and those that focus on the diplomatic implications of Trump’s insistence that Iran’s enriched uranium should be removed.

Beyond the nuclear-site dispute, the reporting ties the negotiation standoff to the US blockade and disruptions in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Reuters-linked details appearing in News18 and the Jerusalem Post.

“Topline President Donald Trump said the process of retrieving enriched uranium from Iran will be a difficult process, claiming this was because of last year’s airstrikes on the country’s nuclear facilities, as the fate of the second round of peace talks between both countries remained uncertain, as the ceasefire between the two sides is set to expire on Wednesday”

Forbes

News18 said a key sticking point was the US blockade of Iranian ports, which Tehran sees as a barrier to returning to negotiations, and it reported that a Pakistani security source said mediator Field Marshal Asim Munir informed Trump that the blockade posed a major obstacle to talks, with Trump indicating he would consider removing it.

Forbes

The same Reuters-linked text said Iran sought leverage through its control over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping channel responsible for roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, and it reported that oil prices rose about five per cent amid concerns the ceasefire could collapse, with shipping traffic through the strait significantly reduced.

The Jerusalem Post’s live updates added a specific shipping snapshot, saying “Just one ship exited the Gulf through the strait while two entered in the space of 12 hours,” and it said ship tracking data showed a fraction of what is usually about 130 vessels per day.

News18 further described escalation after the US military said it fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed toward Bandar Abbas following a standoff, with US Central Command releasing footage showing Marines descending from helicopters onto the vessel.

It said Iran’s military described the interception as “armed piracy” and said the ship had been travelling from China, while Tehran warned it was prepared to respond to what it called “blatant aggression.”