Amidst ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, the United States targeted three critical Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday, which included the subterranean Fordo Nuclear Facility. According to reports from Iranian media, following the U.S. strike, Israeli forces launched an attack on the Fordo nuclear site on Monday.
Israel Launches Another Attack
A day prior to Israel's assault on Fordo, the United States dropped bunker-buster bombs on this clandestine underground nuclear facility. This sequence of events unfolded as Israel, emboldened by U.S. support, initiated a renewed wave of unprecedented rapid strikes on Tehran, claiming it had inflicted one of the swiftest assaults on Iranian military infrastructure.
Read also: 3 Targets, 7 Bombers, 25 Minutes... The Full Story of Operation 'Midnight Hammer' Against Iran
The Iranian Tasnim News Agency cited a government spokesperson revealing another strike on the Fordo nuclear site. This latest assault on Fordo occurred after U.S. Air Force utilized GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles that targeted nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan.
Massive Destruction in Fordo
The Fordo plant, capable of rapidly enriching uranium near weapons-grade levels, lies buried 80 to 90 meters beneath the surface. Only the U.S. has the ammunition required for such a deep target, prompting Israel's repeated calls for American intervention.
Read also: How Trump Wanted to Destroy Only Fordo, While Netanyahu Pushed for All Three Sites
While American defense officials have yet to determine the exact impact of 'Operation Midnight Hammer', the United Nations' nuclear watchdog indicated that the bombings might have significantly damaged Fordo's underground sections. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, addressed an emergency meeting, suggesting possible extensive damage due to the explosive payloads and the sensitivity of the centrifuges.
Previously, the IAEA stated no off-site radiation level increases were observed following U.S. attacks. However, commercial satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters indicates severe damage to the Fordo Nuclear Plant and its uranium enrichment centrifuges, although this remains unconfirmed. Satellite images depict six craters within the plant, indicating where U.S. bombs pierced through the mountains.
Did Iran Extract Uranium?
Meanwhile, a Reuters report suggests some experts, based on recent satellite images, have hinted that Iran might have preemptively relocated weapons-grade enriched uranium storage from Fordo prior to the attack. Images show a convoy of trucks aligned around the plant. Reuters quotes a senior Iranian source stating most of the 60% enriched uranium, the highest grade, has been moved to a secret location, safe from Israeli or U.S. reach.
