What is Iran’s Fortified Fordow Nuclear Complex?
President Donald Trump declared Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility “gone” following unprecedented US airstrikes targeting Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan late Saturday. This marks the first direct US attack on Iranian soil.
Trump announced the operation on Truth Social, stating: “Fordow is gone… A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors… NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!” He later told Fox News that six massive GBU-57A/B “bunker buster” bombs, dropped by B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, completely destroyed Fordow.
Fordow, buried nearly 300 feet inside a mountain south of Tehran and operational since 2009, was considered Iran’s most secure nuclear site and central to potential weapons development. Analystsbelieved it was immune to conventional Israeli weaponry due to its depth and protection by Iranian and Russian air defenses. Only the US’s 15-ton GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), specifically designed to destroy deeply buried facilities and used in combat for the first time, was thought capable of breaching it.
The facility reportedly housed advanced centrifuges and held a stockpile capable of conversion into weapons-grade uranium for up to nine nuclear bombs within weeks. While Iran has other enrichment sites, many analysts considered Fordow’s destruction crucial to halting Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iranian officials immediately disputed Trump’s account. A spokesperson for Qom’s crisis management center, cited by Iranian news outlets, stated only “a part of the area” of Fordow was attacked after air defenses identified hostile targets. The Deputy Security Governor of Isfahan confirmed strikes on the Natanz and Isfahan facilities to Iranian media. All targeted facilities had reportedly been evacuated beforehand.
The other sites, Natanz and Isfahan, were reportedly struck by dozens of cruise missiles launched from sea. Trump’s announcement of Fordow’s destruction caught the world off guard, significantly heightening regional tensions.