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Despite Iran’s efforts to shield its nuclear program, the US strike on the Fordow facility appears to have caused major surface damage. However, there was no confirmation.
A combination picture shows satellite images over Fordow underground complex, before and after the US struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran (Source: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters)
Hours after the United States attacked Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant, commercial satellite imagery indicated the deeply-buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges the nuclear plant housed were severely damaged, possibly destroyed. However, there was no official confirmation on the same.
Reuters quoted Decker Eveleth, an associate researcher with the CNA Corporation, who specialises in satellite imagery, as saying that the confirmation of the below-ground destruction could not be determined, as the hall containing hundreds of centrifuges is “too deeply buried to evaluate the level of damage based on satellite imagery”.
In a similar comment, David Albright, a former United Nations nuclear inspector, who heads the Institute for Science and International Security, said the United States “just punched through with these MOPs” (Massive Ordnance Penetrators) – the bunker-busting bombs that the US said it dropped.
“I would expect that the facility is probably toast,” Albright was quoted as saying.
To defend against attacks such as the one conducted by US forces early on Sunday, Iran buried much of its nuclear program in fortified sites deep underground, including into the side of a mountain at Fordow.
Satellite images show six holes where the bunker-busting bombs appear to have penetrated the mountain, and then ground that looks disturbed and covered in dust.
The United States and Israel have said they intend to halt Tehran’s nuclear program.
However, a failure to destroy its facilities and equipment could mean Iran could more easily restart the weapons program that US intelligence and the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say it shuttered in 2003.
EARLIER IMAGES INDICATED ‘UNUSUAL ACTIVITY’
According to the report, experts also noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed “unusual activity” at Fordow on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance of the facility.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday that most of the near weapons-grade 60 per cent highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the US attack.
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, in response to Israel’s attacks, Iran’s parliament is threatening to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the international system that went into force in 1970 to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, ending cooperation with the IAEA.
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Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
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