The timing of Israel's plan to attack Iran was top secret.
But Washington pizza delivery trackers guessed something was up before the first bombs fell.
About an hour before Iranian state TV first reported loud explosions in Tehran, pizza orders around the Pentagon went through the roof, according to a viral X account claiming to offer "hot intel" on "late-night activity spikes" at the US military headquarters.
"As of 6:59 pm ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity," the account Pentagon Pizza Report posted on Thursday.
'Busy night at the Pentagon'
Not confining its analysis to pizza, the account noted three hours later that a gay bar near the Pentagon had "abnormally low traffic for a Thursday night" and said this probably pointed to "a busy night at the Pentagon".
While far from scientific, the Pentagon pizza theory "is not something the internet just made up", The Takeout, an online site covering restaurants and food trends, noted earlier this year.
Pentagon-adjacent pizza joints also got much busier than usual during Israel's 2024 missile strike on Iran, it said, as there are "a multitude of fast food restaurants in the Pentagon complex, but no pizza places".
Pizza deliveries to the Pentagon reportedly doubled right before the US invasion of Panama in December 1989, and surged again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
US President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal he was fully aware in advance of the bombing campaign, which Israel says is needed to end Iran's nuclear program. "We know what's going on."
For the rest of Americans, pepperoni pie activity was not the only way to tell something was about to happen.
Washington had already announced it was moving some diplomats and their families out of the Middle East on Wednesday.
Israel's attack on Iran involved more than 200 fighter jets which hit more than 100 targets. Source: AP / Vahid Salemi/AP
Iran says talks with US over nuclear program 'meaningless' now
It's unclear if the sixth round of planned talks between the US and Iran about the latter's nuclear program, set to be held on Sunday in Oman, will go ahead.
Iran has accused the US of being complicit in Israel's attacks, Washington has denied the accusation, and told Iran at the United Nations Security Council it would be "wise" to negotiate over its nuclear program.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei saying dialogue with the US over nuclear would be "meaningless" in light of Israel's strikes.
He said Israel "succeeded in influencing" the diplomatic process, and Friday's Israeli attack would not have happened without US permission.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted as saying nuclear talks with the United States would be "meaningless" in the wake of Israel's attack, accusing the US of complicity. Source: Getty / Xinhua News Agency
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
Trump told the Reuters news agency that while he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming, they still saw room for an accord.
