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New York Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Mapping the Israel-Iran Conflict
June 16, 2025, 6:47 p.m. ET Helene CooperEric Schmitt and News Analysis Fordo nuclear site Deep inside a mountain, Fordo is said to contain close to 3,000 sophisticated centrifuges in two enrichment halls. IRAN Support building Tunnel entrances Security perimeter Fordo nuclear site IRAN Deep inside a mountain, Fordo is said to contain close to 3,000 sophisticated centrifuges in two enrichment halls. Support building Tunnel entrances Security perimeter Fordo nuclear site Deep inside a mountain, Fordo is said to contain close to 3,000 sophisticated centrifuges in two enrichment halls. IRAN Support building Tunnel entrances Security perimeter Iran's most heavily fortified nuclear site, Fordo, was built deep inside a mountain to protect it from an attack. Only the U.S. military has the 30,000-pound bomb capable of even reaching it. The bomb is commonly known as a 'bunker buster' because it is designed to destroy deep underground bunkers, or well-buried weapons in highly protected facilities. It is believed to be the only air-delivered weapon that would have a chance of destroying the site. The bomb has a much thicker steel case and contains a smaller amount of explosives than similarly sized general-purpose bombs. The heavy casings allow the munition to stay intact as it punches through soil, rock or concrete before detonating. Its size — 20 feet long and 30,000 pounds — means that only the American B-2 stealth bomber can carry it. Conventional wisdom has been that Israel can't destroy Fordo on its own. The United States has blocked Israel from getting the bunker buster, and while Israel has fighter jets, it has not developed heavy bombers capable of carrying the weapon. But Israel can come close by hitting more accessible power generation and transmission plants that help run the facility, which contains Iran's most advanced centrifuges, military officials said. In conjunction with Israel's aerial bombardment of Iran, going after the Fordo-adjacent plants could significantly slow down the ability of Iran's most protected nuclear facility to keep enriching uranium. The Israel Defense Forces and covert operatives could also look for other ways to disable the site, including destroying the entrance to it. Attacking Fordo is central to any effort to destroy Iran's ability to make nuclear weapons. In March 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it had discovered uranium that had been enriched to 83.7 percent purity in Fordo — close to the enrichment level, 90 percent, necessary for nuclear weapons. Iran, which is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, has maintained that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The U.S. Air Force is moving refueling tankers, aircraft and additional warplanes to support any additional American operations in the Middle East, U.S. officials said. But President Trump has not, at the moment, moved to reverse years of American policy on providing Israel with the bunker buster bombs. 'We've had a policy for a long time of not providing those to the Israelis because we didn't want them to use them,' said Gen. Joseph Votel, who was commander of U.S. Central Command during Mr. Trump's first term. Instead, the United States viewed its bunker buster bomb largely as a deterrent, a national security asset possessed only by America, but not one that, if made available, might encourage Israel to start a war with Iran. Iran built the centrifuge facility at Fordo knowing that it needed to bury it deep to prevent it from being attacked. In 1981, using F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, Israel bombed a nuclear facility near Baghdad as part of its effort to stop Iraq from acquiring nuclear weapons. That facility was above ground. 'The Iranians fully understood that the Israelis would try to get inside their programs and they built Fordo inside of a mountain a long time ago to take care of the post-Iraq problem' presented by the 1981 strike, said Vali Nasr, an Iran expert who is a professor at Johns Hopkins University. Over the years, the Israelis have cooked up a variety of plans to attack Fordo in the absence of U.S.-supplied bunker busters. Under one of those plans, which they presented to senior officials in the Obama administration, Israeli helicopters loaded with commandos would fly to the site. The commandos would then fight their way inside the facility, rig it with explosives and blow it up, former U.S. officials said. Israel successfully mounted a similar operation in Syria last year when it destroyed a Hezbollah missile production facility. But Fordo would be a much more dangerous endeavor, military officials said. American officials say now that Israel has gained air supremacy over much of Iran, Israeli attack planes could circle over Fordo and render it inoperable, at least temporarily, but not destroy it. 'The Israelis have sprung a lot of clandestine operations lately, but the physics of the problem remain the same,' said Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., who was in charge of the Iran war plans when he ran the Pentagon's Central Command after General Votel. 'It remains a very difficult target.' David A. Deptula, a retired three-star Air Force general who planned the American air campaigns in Afghanistan in 2001 and in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, agreed that Israel has options that would not require American help. For example, Israeli special forces 'could insert/apply or otherwise use a variety of means to disable the facility,' he said. Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the United States, hinted at those options on Sunday on ABC News's 'This Week.' 'We have a number of contingencies, which will enable us to deal with Fordo,' he said. 'Not everything is a matter of taking to the skies and bombing from afar.' Even if Mr. Trump were to authorize American B-2 stealth bombers to drop the 30,000-pound bombs, General McKenzie said, there would be several technical, highly classified challenges in coordinating such a strike with Israel. A decision to use the American bunker busters would also have huge international consequences, General Votel said. For one, there could be nuclear contamination from such a bombardment that could endanger civilians. 'I think there would also certainly be fallout internationally over the idea that the United States joined Israel in what would be viewed as an illegal attack on the sovereignty of Iran,' General Votel added. And Iran could widen its retaliation to U.S. troops and other American targets in the region and beyond, military analysts say. The United States would be back on war footing in the region. Mr. Trump has made clear that he has little interest in more military misadventures in the region, and he is seeking not to alienate a noninterventionist wing of supporters firmly opposed to more U.S. involvement in a Middle East war. Adam Entous contributed reporting.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Israel's Massive Attack on Iran — and Why Tomorrow's Military Parade Is So Fraught
Hosted by Michael Barbaro Featuring Helene Cooper and David E. Sanger Produced by Sydney HarperOlivia Natt and Alex Stern Edited by Patricia Willens Original music by Elisheba Ittoop Engineered by Chris Wood Tomorrow night, for the first time in decades, the United States military will put its unrivaled might on display in a parade through downtown Washington D.C. Helene Cooper, who covers national security for The Times, explains how President Trump overcame years of opposition from inside the military to get the parade and why its timing has become so fraught. David E. Sanger, who covers the White House and national security, gives an update on Israel's attack on Iran and what it is likely to mean for the region. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Helene Cooper, who covers national security issues for The New York Times. David E. Sanger, the White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times. Mr. Trump's military parade marches into a political maelstrom as troops have deployed to L.A. Israel targeted Iran's nuclear program in major attack. There are a lot of ways to listen to 'The Daily.' Here's how. We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode's publication. You can find them at the top of the page. The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, Nina Feldman, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon M. Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez, Brendan Klinkenberg, Chris Haxel, Maria Byrne, Anna Foley and Caitlin O'Keefe. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam, Nick Pitman and Kathleen O'Brien.
New York Times
29-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Battle Plans and Emojis: What the Signal Leak Revealed About Washington
It's the national security scandal no one saw coming — and the first major test of a new administration that prides itself on breaking norms. This week, we learned that some of the highest-ranking officials in Washington had been orchestrating a bombing campaign in Yemen — via Signal, a messaging app. Their messages, which were accidentally shared with a journalist from The Atlantic, have led to backlash over the administration's handling of state secrets and opened a rare window into how military decisions are made in the emoji era. The New York Times reporters Jess Bidgood, Helene Cooper, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and David E. Sanger discuss what the Signal chat leak revealed about the Trump administration and the state of politics in Washington.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth conduct ‘Friday night purge' of top military leaders at Pentagon
Helene Cooper, Pentagon Correspondent at the New York Times joins Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House to discuss the fallout from the firing of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown along with other generals and JAG's at the Pentagon, stemming from personal grievances from Hegseth and Trump when it comes it issues like diversity and reacting to the killing of George Floyd.
