US bombs Iran's Fordow nuclear site: Why Trump, Israel are focussed on this facility?

Fordow, considered to be the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, was attacked by US B-2 bombers during the airstrike late on Saturday.

President Donald Trump on June 21 announced that “Fordow is gone” after US military dropped a full payload of bombs on the main nuclear site of Iran.

"The strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in a televised address. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."

Fordow, considered to be the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, was attacked by US B-2 bombers during the airstrike late on Saturday.

The bunker bursting bombs used in the strike, weigh over 30,000 pounds and also known as Massive Ordnance Penetrator. They can go as deep as 200 feet below ground before exploding.

The capacity of the bombs deployed show the seriousness attached to the nuclear site.

So, why targeting Fordow is considered important by the West?

An enrichment of 90 percent is required to develop nuclear weapons and if reports are to be believed, the Fordow facility has reached 83.7 percent of enrichment. According to IAEA, Fordow is the main site in Iran for enriching uranium to 60 percent. A US-based think tank said that Iran could use its 60 percent enriched stockpile to build 233-kg of weapons-grade uranium in three weeks, which is enough to manufacture nine nuclear bombs.

In 2019, reports said that Iran had installed IR-6 centrifuges that are capable of enriching uranium to higher purity levels more quickly. However, Iran has always maintained that its nuclear program is only for civilian purposes.

Fordow has always been the main cause of concern for international experts, more since the US exited the 2015 nuclear deal that allowed Iran to expand its uranium enrichment program.

Reports indicate that the nuclear facility is buried 300-feet beneath a mountain in the south of Tehran, which is why bunker bursting busters, available only with the US, are required to attack the site. Given its fortification, it will likely be days, if not longer, before the impact of the strikes is known.

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So far, the Iranian officials have claimed that the site was evacuated in an anticipation of an attack and there has been no “irreversible damage”. The International nuclear agency has also said there has been no indication of contamination so far.

When was it built?

The facility was originally built in 2007 for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as its military centre. It was later disclosed as a nuclear facility in 2009 to the IAEA. Intelligence reports in 2009 found that Iran was trying to install 3,000 centrifuges at the site and by September of that year Fordow’s conversion was close to being complete.

In 2023, the IAEA inspectors found uranium particles close to weapons-grade quality.

Israel had, in the beginning of the year, claimed that its intelligence showed that Iran has established a secret program to build nuclear weapons with senior scientists secretly conduction tests.

Concerns over the facility became stronger after Iran installed S-300 air defence over the site.

With agency inputs