Mapping the Israel-Iran conflict: Where key nuclear sites, targets and US military bases lie

Sydney Morning Herald

5 hours ago

Establishing the extent of the damage to key Iranian nuclear sites is challenging not just due to the repeated Israeli strikes targeting them, but also because both sides are supplying contrasting assessments on the success of the Israeli operation.
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South of Tehran lies the Natanz nuclear facility, a complex at the heart of Iran's enrichment program that houses facilities including two enrichment plants: the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant and above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant.
The Fordow enrichment facility is also south of Tehran, and is notably underground, making it harder to successfully hit. Further south, on the outskirts of Isfahan, Iran's second-largest city, is a large nuclear technology centre that includes the Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant and uranium conversion and storage facilities. On the Gulf Coast is the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant and uses Russian fuel that Russia takes back once it is spent.
Further north, in addition to Tehran's nuclear research reactor, is the partially built heavy-water research reactor in Khondab, which Iran previously informed the International Atomic Energy Agency it had planned to start operating in 2026.
Why is Iran's Fordow nuclear base a target?
Dug deep into a mountain near Qom is the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which is one of Iran's most heavily fortified nuclear sites, built in secrecy and designed for survivability.
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It was exposed through Western intelligence in 2009, and its capacity to enrich uranium levels close to weapons-grade is what alarms the superpowers and makes it critical to Iran's nuclear program. In 2023, according to the IAEA, uranium enriched to a purity of 83.7 per cent was found at Fordow. Nuclear weapons need an enrichment level of 90 per cent.
The fact that Fordow was designed as a fallback facility should other nuclear sites be compromised makes it a key stronghold for Iran, and a prime target for Israel – but it's understood Israel would be hard-pressed to destroy it without help from the US.
Why does Israel need the United States' assistance to target Fordow?
Fordow's underground nuclear facilities are understood to be 80 to 90 metres beneath the mountain's surface. It's impenetrable, even if Israel used the most advanced 'bunker buster' bombs in its arsenal for targeted aerial strikes.
The 13,608-kilogram GBU-57A/B MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) is thought to be the only 'bunker buster' bomb that could reach the core buried below Fordow's surface, though that would still be likely to require multiple strikes.
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Capable of burrowing through 60 metres of steel and rock before detonating, it was developed by the United States and is its largest non-nuclear bomb.
Israel has requested it from the US, and the request has been denied multiple times.
Only a B2 Stealth Bomber could carry the bomb due to its sheer size.
How large is the United States' military presence in the Middle East?
Iran has said it would target the United States' military bases in the Middle East should Trump enter the conflict on Israel's side in earnest.
The United States has a significant military presence in the Middle East, the Council on Foreign Relations says there is a broad network of sites spanning at least 19 locations, eight of which are permanent.
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The permanent United States sites are understood to be in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Since October 7, 2023, several attacks purportedly by Iran-backed forces have occurred. Notably, in January 2024, three American soldiers were killed after a drone hit the Tower 22 military base in Jordan, near the Syrian border.