Israel Strikes Iran’s Fordow Nuclear Site Again; Tehran Blasts Heard as Conflict Escalates
The Middle East crisis hurtled towards a full-blown regional war on Monday as Israel carried out a fresh attack on Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow underground nuclear facility. The strike was confirmed by Iranian state media, marking a severe escalation just 24 hours after the United States used its most powerful conventional bombs on the same site.
In a direct and forceful acknowledgment, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that his country was attacking targets in central Tehran with “unprecedented intensity.” Loud explosions were reported across the Iranian capital, and in a sign of swift retaliation, blasts were also heard in Jerusalem after the Israeli army warned of incoming missile strikes from Iran.
The situation remains fluid, with no immediate details available on the extent of the damage at the Fordow facility, which is buried deep inside a mountain south of Tehran. Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted a local crisis management official confirming, “The aggressor attacked the Fordow nuclear site again.”
This daring Israeli strike follows a significant and direct intervention by the United States on Sunday. The US military unleashed its massive GBU-57 “bunker-buster” bombs on three of Iran’s key nuclear sites, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. US Air Force General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that 14 of these powerful munitions were used in an effort to destroy or severely degrade Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities.
The back-to-back attacks on Fordow, a site notoriously difficult to penetrate, signal a new and dangerous phase in the conflict. Built an estimated 80 meters under rock and soil near the city of Qom, the facility is central to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. While it is protected by extensive air defence systems, it is believed they were damaged in Israel’s wider week-long offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that the goal of the military operation is the complete elimination of Iran’s missile and nuclear programmes, which he describes as an existential threat. The direct targeting of Fordow underscores this objective. “This entire operation really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow,” Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, had recently told Fox News. The international community has expressed grave concerns, with fears that the escalating cycle of violence could destabilise the entire region.
