Iran’s nuclear site at Fordow was struck again on Monday, with targets including roads leading to the subterranean facility, following a substantial U.S. attack over the weekend.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed they conducted the attack earlier Monday, stating the objective was to disrupt access routes to Fordow.
Earlier, Iranian state television reported Fordow had suffered a second assault after the weekend’s U.S. strike, but their account did not specify any damage or identify the perpetrator.
This recent strike on Fordow occurred concurrent with IDF statements that Israel also initiated a series of attacks on various Iranian military command centers, described as an “ongoing effort to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities.” Concurrently, Iran has been launching missiles into Israel in response to the U.S. strike.
On Saturday, the U.S. carried out a surprise attack utilizing B-2 stealth bombers and submarines against Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites. The subterranean Fordow facility necessitated the deployment of advanced bunker-buster munitions.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated that Fordow is anticipated to have incurred substantial damage from the U.S. assault.
“Considering the explosive payload employed and the highly vibration-sensitive characteristic of centrifuges, extremely significant damage is expected to have transpired,” Grossi commented from Vienna.
Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed reporters at a Sunday Pentagon briefing that although all three Iranian nuclear locations hit in the strike “sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” a complete assessment of the battle damage would require time.
Images of Fordow, observed on Sunday from a bird’s-eye view, indicated that the U.S. strike had obliterated some structures at the facility. Satellite imagery captured days earlier showed trucks and vehicles present at the Fordow site.
The IAEA has reported no increase in off-site radiation levels subsequent to the strikes on the three Iranian nuclear installations.
As of Monday, it remained uncertain whether any enriched nuclear material was destroyed during the U.S. strikes or if Iran had relocated the material prior to the attacks.
Fordow is situated within the side of a mountain close to the city of Qom, approximately 60 miles southwest of Tehran.
Contributions from ’ Yonat Friling and