Israel hasn't hit Iran's Fordo nuclear facility yet. Here's why it might.

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Iran has 2 known underground atomic enrichment sites, the 1 Israel attacked connected the first time of its assault astatine Natanz, and different astatine Fordo. Both beryllium southbound of Tehran successful cardinal Iran, but Fordo has agelong been the Iranian atomic installation of astir interest to planetary monitors and experts.

Buried heavy successful a mountain, Fordo is wherever galore analysts judge Iran has concealed clandestine efforts to enactment toward a atomic weapons capability. There person been nary reported Israeli strikes connected the Fordo enrichment facility

As precocious arsenic March, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said American quality agencies did not judge Iran was gathering a atomic weapon, but Israel's subject asserted hours aft initiating its onslaught connected Iran past week that the U.S. accusation was outdated, claiming Iran was "racing towards a atomic bomb."

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin claimed Friday that the state had quality indicating the Iranian authorities "has established a concealed program, wrong the model of which elder atomic scientists successful Iran secretly conducted the experiments required to physique atomic weapons."

Speaking to reporters aboriginal Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump appeared to person been swayed. Asked astir the appraisal Gabbard delivered successful March, helium said: "I don't attraction what she said. I deliberation they were precise adjacent to having them."

Iran's leaders person ever denied immoderate involvement successful gathering a atomic weapon, insisting the programme is for civilian purposes. But if that's obfuscation, arsenic Israel insists, and the Iranians are adjacent to a atomic weapons capability, much than a decennary of investigation of Iran's atomic facilities by experts astir the satellite suggests Fordo would beryllium cardinal to those efforts.

Why is Iran's Fordo atomic tract specified a concern?

Two experts told CBS News successful 2012 — the past clip Netanyahu looked adjacent to attacking Iranian atomic facilities — that Fordo, buried astir 300 feet beneath a upland and protected by important aerial defenses, was the astir apt determination for a hypothetical atomic weapons "breakout" program.

Fordo is "obviously for atomic weapons hedging, to sphere centrifuges successful lawsuit of an attack" connected other, much susceptible facilities, Mark Fitzpatrick, an adept connected Iran's atomic programme astatine the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, told CBS News successful 2012.

Israel attacked the lone different atomic installation known to location important uranium enrichment facilities successful Iran past week, causing harm astatine Natanz.

But the advancement made astatine Fordo adjacent astatine that stage, earlier the U.S.-brokered atomic woody with Iran brought United Nations inspectors into the country, and since Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. retired of that statement during his archetypal time, prompting an escalation of Iran's efforts, has remained unverified.

The U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency, the IAEA, declared Iran non-compliant with its monitoring efforts for the archetypal clip successful 20 years, conscionable hours earlier Israel attacked. The deficiency of knowing of Iran's enactment astatine the installation has agelong been a concern, but those concerns person mounted successful caller years, since the U.S. withdrawal from the atomic woody spurred Iran to trim practice with planetary inspectors and ramp-up its enrichment.

In precocious 2023, Manuel Herrera, a weapons non-proliferation adept with 2 antithetic European deliberation tanks, said Fordo remained "one of the main concerns regarding Iran."

"Fordo has ever been a large interest due to the fact that of its determination and due to the fact that of its size," Herrera said during a discussion with chap Iran adept William Alberque, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. We each knew from the opening that Fordo was a tract that aimed to enrich uranium for weapons purposes, due to the fact that of its location, due to the fact that of its size, due to the fact that of its method capacity. And… that the Iranians person been expanding that tract and besides expanding the stockpile of enriched uranium successful that site, should beryllium a interest for us, because, actually, we don't person a batch of transparency connected what's going connected there."

Herrera noted that, "in opposition with Natanz which is overground, Fordo is underground — it's a installation which really has a passageway structure."

In summation to its well-fortified determination and structure, Herrera said Fordo "has ever been assumed to beryllium an enrichment works with subject purposes" owed to the machinery astatine the site.

He noted that the Iranian regime had boasted successful 2019 of installing precocious "IR-6" centrifuges astatine Fordo, susceptible of enriching uranium to higher purity levels overmuch much rapidly than astir of its older equipment. In aboriginal 2023, the IAEA said it had recovered uranium particles astatine Fordo enriched to astir 84% purity, which is incredibly adjacent to the 90% purity uranium that would beryllium required for a atomic weapon.

"This tells america that the Iranians astatine slightest are experimenting with this benignant of uranium enriched level," Herrera said.

Tucker Reals

Tucker Reals is CBSNews.com's overseas editor, based successful the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, anterior to which helium worked for The Associated Press successful Washington, D.C., and London.

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