New satellite imagery shows US stealth bombers appear to have targeted a vulnerable spot in one of Iran’s key nuclear sites, buried deep in a mountain.
Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, located near the city of Qom, is a once-secret facility that has recently been enriching uranium to levels high above the minimum needed for civilian use.
“If your goal is to eliminate [Iran’s] nuclear program, you have to eliminate Fordow,” one expert told ABC NEWS Verify.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the bombers had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear ambitions, in a press conference following the mission.
New imagery from the site shows six visible craters on the mountain that shields Fordow’s underground structure, thought to be about 90 metres below.
They were caused by several of the 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs dropped on two Iranian nuclear sites during the attack.
The images have been analysed by experts from the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) — a think-tank led by David Albright, a leading American physicist and nuclear weapons expert, who is also a former weapons inspector.
The impacts at the bottom of the image appear to exploit one of the facility’s vulnerabilities — a ventilation shaft, according to the ISIS analysis.
“This set of holes [is] near the ventilation shaft of the underground complex, enabling an easier pathway for the MOPS to the deeply buried halls,” it reads.
“It is highly likely that the enrichment halls were severely damaged or even destroyed in the attack. Debris from the explosions can be seen on the side of the mountain,” it concludes.
The ventilation shaft had been identified as a weak spot in the structure — after Fordow’s early blueprints were stolen in a 2018 raid by Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service.
“We were surprised by this, there’s only one ventilation shaft for the building,” David Albright said in a 2024 podcast interview.
“You see it in the drawings. We went back and looked at historical imagery and we could see it being built, and then [camouflaged].
“You know exactly where it is … you can destroy that shaft deeply, that could potentially cause damage mostly through temperature effects.
“You could put the facility out of commission for quite a long time, measured probably in a few years rather than a few months,” he told Arms Control Poseur.
The ISIS analysis also notes that Fordow’s entrances were backfilled by Iran ahead of the attack.
Evidence of this can be seen in imagery from June 20, where trucks and what appear to be bulldozers were captured near the facility’s entrances.
Natanz and Isfahan
The new imagery also shows Natanz — Iran’s largest enrichment facility — has been impacted by at least one “bunker-buster”.
An image from its construction in 2003 shows large structures in the middle of the site, which are not present in more recent imagery and were likely buried.
The new imagery shows at least one GBU-57 impact point above what is thought to be a buried enrichment hall, according to ISIS analysis.
“This explosion likely destroyed the facility,” it concludes.
The high-resolution imagery shows at least one other likely impact crater.
Previous Israeli strikes had hit an electrical substation, gas turbine generators, a power supply support building and a pilot fuel enrichment plant.
The Isfahan nuclear site had also been hit by Israeli strikes prior to America’s involvement.
But a US submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at the site as the attack was unfolding.
ISIS analysis said the Isfahan complex sustained heavy damage, including to its main uranium conversion facility and nearby tunnel entrances.
Bombers fly east
B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers were used to drop the GBU-57s — marking the first time the bombs have been used in an operation.
The bombs reach depths of up to 60 metres before exploding.
The US’s entire fleet of B-2s operates out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
It took 18 hours for the bombers to reach their target, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.
Including the flight back to the US, it was the longest B-2 mission since 2001.
The mission included flying a number of bombers west over the Pacific as decoys — which were able to be tracked by some aviation enthusiasts.
General Caine said more than 125 aircraft were involved in the mission — including fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets.
Satellite images show impact craters, building damage at Iranian nuclear sites
