Iran's hidden uranium plant ‘only the US can destroy'

News.com.au

6 hours ago

A uranium enrichment plant crucial to Iran's nuclear ambitions has found itself at the centre of an unspeakably tense military standoff.
Tucked deep beneath a mountain ridge south of Tehran lies the Fordo plant. It is currently out of reach for Israel's highly sophisticated missile systems, which have now claimed air superiority over most of Iran.
Fordo sits approximately 96 km south of the capital of Tehran. It was originally a series of tunnels used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but Iran publicly disclosed its use as a nuclear facility in 2009 following Western pressure.
The site consists of two large tunnels that power uranium-enrichment centrifuges, connected by smaller passages.
Its depth poses a major challenge for Israel.
The IDF reportedly has armaments capable of penetrating up to 10m of underground, but Fordo lies roughly 80–90m beneath the surface.
Only the United States is believed to possess a weapon capable of inflicting serious damage on the facility — the 13,000kg GBUâ€'57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), or 'bunker buster'.
Experts warn that deploying such a bomb could dramatically expand the Middle Eastern conflict, which is already sitting on a knife's edge after seven full days of traded blows.
The US GBUâ€'57 comes in at a whopping 13 tonnes, giving it the ability to bury through around 18m of concrete or 61m of earth with relative ease. It will be high on Israel's list of requests should Donald Trump make the highly controversial call to intervene.
But analysts caution that even a 13-tonne bunker buster may not be enough, and an attempt to destroy Fordo would likely rupture regional stability.
But leaving it standing leaves a vital Iranian nuclear asset unscathed. Decisions made now — and whether a warhead flies from American skies — will define this chapter of Middle East security.
Though the US has already helped intercept Iranian missiles en route to Israel, it has not launched any direct strikes on Iran.
President Trump has remained vague, which has sent a ripple through the MAGA ranks, many of whom are opposed to the idea of US interventionism.
'I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' and added that his patience with Tehran 'had already run out.'
Iran battered but not broken
In less than a week, the Israeli army has taken out Iranian military commanders and damaged numerous surface installations, raising more questions than answers.
'The regime's missile stockpiles, launchers, military bases, production facilities, nuclear scientists, military command and control has taken a very severe beating,' said Behnam Ben Taleblu, director of the Iran program at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a conservative-leaning group.
'But there are still outsized questions as to how efficacious of a strike Israel had against the beating hearts of Iran's nuclear program,' Taleblu said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported no damage at Fordo, a uranium enrichment plant south of Tehran. Unlike the Natanz and Isfahan sites in central Iran, Fordo is buried deep underground, beyond the reach of Israeli bombs.
'All eyes will be on Fordo, which is buried under about 300 feet of rock in central Iran,' Taleblu said.