Warplanes (CNN). submarines. cruise missiles. Bombs weighing thirty thousand pounds.
Following his original preference for diplomacy, US President Donald Trump struck three of Iran’s most important nuclear installations on Saturday night in an unusual use of force.
Some Iranian authorities minimized the significance of the strikes, as they did when Israel first targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 13, despite Trump’s claims that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been destroyed.
Here is what we know about the harm the US caused to Iran’s nuclear program, based on satellite imagery of the midnight attacks that is starting to surface.
Fordow
Buried deep into a mountain to protect it from attackers, Fordow is Iran’s most significant nuclear enrichment complex.
It is estimated that the major halls are 80–90 meters (262–295 ft) below the surface. The US military is the only one in the world with the type of bomb needed to bury the massive, 30,000-pound GBU-57 that deeply, according to analysts for a long time.
Twelve of the bunker-busting bombs were dropped on the site by the US using six B-2 bombers, a US official told CNN.
At least six sizable craters were left at the Fordow site by the US strikes, according to a CNN analysis of satellite imagery, suggesting the employment of bunker-busting bombs.
Maxar’s photos revealed six distinct impact craters in two adjacent areas at Fordow. Along a ridge that crosses the subterranean complex, the craters are visible.
There had been a direct kinetic impact on Fordow, but it was too soon to determine whether it had resulted in internal damage to the subterranean site, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, told CNN.
Of course, he remarked, it is impossible to rule out the potential that there is serious damage there.
According to satellite photos, the enrichment hall and nearby halls that support enrichment could have sustained significant damage, David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), told CNN.
While emphasizing that a thorough evaluation of the damage will require time, Albright stated that complete destruction of the underground hall is definitely likely.
There are at least six access sites in Fordow after the US strikes, according to munitions expert N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the research firm Armament Research Services (ARES).
Jenzen-Jones told CNN that the two groups’ larger, center entry holes have uneven forms and indicate that many missiles impacted the same exact spot.
He continued by saying that this is in line with the theory that an attack on a target as deeply buried as the Fordow site would necessitate the use of several carefully calibrated and delivered penetrating munitions to essentially smash and blast their way through to the deeper, more protected areas of the site.
Significant color changes in the mountainside where the facility is located were also visible on satellite photography, suggesting that a layer of grey ash blanketed a large region following the hits.
According to a CNN study of pre-US footage, Iran had strengthened the entrances to the tunnels thought to go into the underground facility, probably in preparation for an impending attack. At least two of the six entrances had dirt heaped in front of them, according to that imagery.
Other Iranian politicians minimized the significance of the strikes, despite Iran’s foreign minister claiming that the US had crossed a very high red line. Lawmaker Manan Raeisi, who represents the city of Qom, which is close to Fordow, stated that the attack’s damage was rather minor.
However, ISIS member Albright told CNN that early Iranian claims should be disregarded. He said that Tehran had soft-pedaled the effects of earlier waves of strikes on Iran’s nuclear installations, but satellite photos revealed a very different picture.
Natanz
Israel launched its first attack on Iran on June 13 and targeted Natanz, which is home to Iran’s largest nuclear enrichment facility. The site consists of three underground facilities and six above-ground buildings that house centrifuges, a crucial nuclear enrichment device that converts uranium into nuclear fuel.
Israel’s initial attack damaged the above-ground facilities. According to the IAEA, the strikes caused damage to the plant’s electrical infrastructure.
The IAEA stated that the centrifuges in the underground cascade hall might have been harmed by the power outage, even though it is unclear if Israel’s strikes directly impacted the underground facility.
In its Saturday night operation, the United States also attacked Natanz. Two bunker-busting bombs were dropped on the site by a B-2 bomber, according to a US official. Additionally, US Navy submarines launched 30 TLAM cruise missiles at Isfahan, the third Iranian location the US has targeted, and Natanz.
Two new holes have formed at the site, most likely as a result of the bunker-busting bombs, according to a CNN analysis of satellite imagery. According to the Maxar photos, the craters, one measuring around 5.5 meters in diameter and the other about 3.2 meters, are situated precisely above subterranean portions of the complex.
It is yet unknown how much damage has been done underground at the location.
Isfahan
The largest nuclear research complex in Iran is located in the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
The nonprofit organization Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) says the facility was constructed with Chinese assistance and opened in 1984. According to the NTI, Isfahan employs some 3,000 scientists and is thought to be the hub of Iran’s nuclear program.
According to a CNN analysis, satellite data after the US strikes showed at least 18 completely or partially destroyed facilities. The amount of debris that the hits threw up left the scene noticeably darkened.
According to early reports, the US also targeted tunnel complexes close to the Isfahan location, where enriched uranium is normally stored, according to Albright.
According to Albright, if verified, this would demonstrate that the United States was attempting to remove Iran’s 20% and 60% enriched uranium supplies. 90% of the uranium is enriched for use in weapons.
Reports that tunnel complexes close to the Isfahan location were targeted were not independently confirmed by CNN.
The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, stated during a Pentagon news briefing on Sunday that a US submarine had fired over a dozen Tomahawk ground assault cruise missiles at important surface infrastructure targets at the Isfahan location.
Reporting was done by Isaac Ye, Avery Schmitz, Haley Britzky, and Kristen Holmes of CNN.
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