President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he is still evaluating his options concerning potential military intervention in light of the escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran.
While speaking on the South Lawn of the White House, President Trump emphasized, “The next week is going to be big,” indicating that Iranian officials may be open to negotiations.
However, he issued a warning to Tehran, stating, “It’s very late to be talking,” in response to their outreach.
Military officials and experts have noted that the United States’ 30,000-pound (13,000 kg) bunker buster bomb is uniquely equipped to target the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. This facility, believed to be vital to Tehran’s nuclear program, is situated deep within a mountain, making it especially challenging to penetrate with conventional weaponry.
The United States is the only nation currently possessing these specialized bombs, which are deployed using B-2 bombers. If such a bomb were to be utilized against Iran, it would mark a significant shift from the current strategy of primarily defending Israel to engaging in offensive strikes against Iranian military targets.
Bunker buster bombs are designed to demolish deeply buried targets that standard bombs cannot penetrate. The most formidable of these is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, weighing around 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) with a 2,700 kg (6,000-pound) warhead.
Constructed from high-strength steel, the GBU-57 can penetrate up to 200 feet (61 meters) underground before detonating, thereby maximizing its destructive capabilities.
Currently, only the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is designed to deploy the GBU-57, with each aircraft able to carry two of these bunker buster bombs simultaneously. The US Air Force indicates that multiple strikes can be executed sequentially, whether by the same bomber or by various aircraft, allowing the bombs to penetrate deeper and exponentially increase their impact.
In contrast, Israel operates its own US-made bunker buster bombs such as the GBU-28 and BLU-109. However, these munitions lack the capability to reach the depths of fortified sites like Iran’s Fordow plant, as they typically can only penetrate shallowly.
In recent reports from 2024, Israel is said to have employed successive BLU-109 bombs to eliminate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his underground facility in Beirut.
The Fordow nuclear facility, located approximately 95 km (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, is built into a mountainside and is believed to be situated around 80-90 meters (260-300 feet) underground. This construction was specifically designed to withstand airstrikes and bunker buster attacks.
Fordow’s construction began around 2006, and it became operational in 2009 when Iran publicly acknowledged its existence. Under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, Iran had agreed to halt uranium enrichment at Fordow and convert the site into a research center.
However, following the US withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, Iran resumed enrichment activities at Fordow, maintaining that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes.
Defenses surrounding Fordow include surface-to-air missile systems supplied by both Iranian and Russian forces. Nevertheless, these defenses may have already been compromised by ongoing Israeli strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has framed the military operations as essential to dismantling Iran’s missile and nuclear capabilities, viewing them as an existential threat. Recent statements from Israeli officials also confirm that the Fordow facility is a primary target.
Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, remarked in an interview, “This entire operation … really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow.”
In addition to Fordow, Israel is believed to have successfully targeted other key nuclear sites in Iran, including the above-ground section of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility—the largest of its kind in Iran.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that damage inflicted on Natanz may have also affected its underground enrichment halls, leading to significant consequences for Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Further Israeli operations have targeted the Isfahan enrichment facility, causing enhanced concern regarding potential radioactive and chemical contamination from the damaged sites.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, indicated that there is a possibility of radiological and chemical contamination stemming from the damage to the Natanz site. During an emergency IAEA session in Vienna, he noted that while radiation levels remain normal outside the affected facilities, escalated military actions heighten the risk of a radiological release.
The Fordow facility is strategically located about 32 km (20 miles) south of Qom, a city home to approximately 1.4 million residents and a major religious and political hub in Iran.
image source from：aljazeera
