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The United States attacked three key nuclear sites in Iran, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Saturday night. The sites are Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, which are at the heart of Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Here's what we know about the three facilities:
Natanz: the nuclear complex, about 250 kilometers south of Tehran, is considered Iran's largest uranium enrichment facility.
Analysts point out that it is used to develop and assemble centrifuges for uranium enrichment, a key technology for converting uranium into nuclear fuel.
Natanz has six above-ground buildings and three underground structures, two of which can house 50,000 centrifuges, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran had been enriching uranium to 60% purity at its aboveground Fuel Enrichment Pilot Plant. Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to 90%.
Fordow: Much remains unknown about the size and full nature of this facility, located near the holy city of Qom and buried deep within a mountain range. Much of what is known comes from Iranian documents stolen years ago by Israeli intelligence.
The main halls are estimated to be 80 to 90 meters underground. According to Israeli officials and independent reports, the U.S. is the only country with bombs capable of reaching that depth.
Recent IAEA reports suggest that Iran has increased production of uranium enriched to 60% at Fordow. The facility now has 2,700 centrifuges, according to experts and the IAEA.
Isfahan: Isfahan, in central Iran, is home to the country's largest nuclear research complex.
The facility was built with Chinese support and opened in 1984, according to the NTI. The NTI reports that 3,000 scientists work in Isfahan and that the site is “suspected of being the center” of Iran’s nuclear program.
According to NTI, it “operates three small research reactors supplied by China,” as well as “a conversion plant, a fuel production plant, a zirconium cladding plant and other facilities and laboratories.”.
