Israel’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear program has significantly impacted Natanz, incapacitating centrifuges and potentially causing an underground implosion, an Israeli official tells The Wall Street Journal.
Israel has delivered a significant blow to parts of Iran’s nuclear program, beginning with its largest enrichment facility at Natanz, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Three days into its campaign, Israeli and UN atomic agency officials confirmed to the newspaper that centrifuges were incapacitated, with indications of the underground section’s potential implosion, though an Israeli official cautioned that additional assessments were needed.
Beyond Natanz, Israel targeted critical supply chain components at Iran’s Isfahan complex, hitting uranium conversion and fuel fabrication plants, both essential for nuclear weapons, according to the report. Experts estimate a year could be needed for rebuild.
The primary challenge remains Iran’s Fordow facility, heavily fortified deep within a mountainside. Richard Nephew, who served as a negotiator with Iran, told The Wall Street Journal, “Israel thus far has targeted important parts of the Iranian nuclear program. But if you are worried about a nuclear breakout, Fordow is the game.”
Fordow’s interior destruction is considered highly difficult, possibly needing a “massive bunker-busting US bomb,” he stated.
