The United States carried out air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, including a fortified facility in the mountain ridge near Isfahan believed to have stored enriched uranium. President Donald Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities were “completely and totally obliterated,” but early assessments raise questions about whether the US destroyed the bulk of enriched Iranian nuclear material.
The US hit the Isfahan site, where nearly 60% of Iran’s stockpile of already-enriched nuclear material is believed to be stored underground, with Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a submarine. However, unlike the other two Iranian facilities targeted, B-2 bombers did not drop massive “bunker-buster” bombs on the Isfahan facility. According to Jeffrey Lewis, a weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, the damage to the facility appears to be restricted to aboveground structures.
Lewis described the strike as “incomplete,” stating that the entire stockpile of 60% uranium stored at Isfahan in untouched tunnels remains a concern. A satellite image taken by Airbus shows significant damage to the Isfahan site and signs that the underground portion of the facility was hit, but the extent of the damage is unclear due to the facility’s layered tunnels.
The US successfully destroyed Iran’s facility at Fordow, an underground site housing centrifuges needed to enrich uranium, with 12 bunker busters. However, multiple sources familiar with the latest US intelligence on both sites and the Trump administration’s objectives in launching the strikes told CNN that Isfahan’s underground facilities, which likely remain intact, must be addressed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Vice President JD Vance said the administration plans to work with Iran to ensure the stockpile of highly enriched uranium is managed, claiming the goal was to prevent Iran from turning that stockpile into weapons-grade uranium. However, experts disagree, citing Iran’s remaining capacity to make centrifuges and install them in giant underground centrifuge facilities.
The reasons behind the US decision not to use bunker busters on Isfahan are unclear, with some US officials previously doubting the capability of Massive Ordinance Penetrators (MOPs) to destroy deeper tunnels. The tunnels at Isfahan are reportedly even deeper than those at Fordow, which required multiple MOPs to impact nearly the exact same spot to be effective.
