The three sites the U.S. hit on Iran represent the core of the Iranian nuclear infrastructure.
Natanz, which was already seriously damaged by Israel, is Iran’s oldest and largest site for producing enriched uranium, a key ingredient for a nuclear weapon.
Fordow was producing most of the highly enriched, near-weapons grade uranium Iran has churned out since 2021. It hadn’t been hit by Israel yet and there were real doubts about Israel’s ability to severely damage the site because of its location deep inside a mountainside.
The two make up almost all the enrichment Iran has done.
Isfahan houses critical components for Iran’s nuclear program. Israel had already destroyed the conversion facility, which turns uranium into the form that can be fed into centrifuges for enrichment.
It had also destroyed Isfahan’s facilities for converting enriched uranium into uranium metal which is needed for a warhead. And Israel has hit centrifuge manufacturing plants at Isfahan in the last 48 hours.
However there were still other buildings at the site. Crucially, most of Iran’s stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium was held underground at Isfahan. That’s enough material for around 10 nuclear weapons. If that material has been destroyed, it’s a major setback for Iran’s ability to covertly race for a bomb.
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