Natanz Nuclear Facility Destroyed

The IDF on Friday afternoon announced that it not only struck Iran's Natanz nuclear facility early on Friday morning, but even destroyed multiple floors of its underground facility, including the main hall containing its largest amount of centrifuges for enriching uranium.

Additionally, the military reportedly conducted a second round of airstrikes against the nuclear facility on Friday afternoon.

The IDF's Spokesperson's Unit clarified that Natanz is the largest uranium enrichment facility in Iran, adding that itis one of the few sites with capabilities to enrich to higher, weaponizable levels of uranium, as opposed to some sites which can only enrich to lower levels.

Natanz has been "operating for years to achieve nuclear weapons and contains the necessary infrastructure for military-grade enrichment," the military claimed.

Friday morning's airstrikes successfully hit the underground area of Natanz's facility, which includes a multi-floor enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms, and additional supporting infrastructure.

The Israel Air Force also successfully struck "vital infrastructure" at Natanz that "supports its operations continuity and the advancement of Iran's nuclear weapons program."

In July 2020, a major nuclear site at Natanz was destroyed, and in April 2021, another site was sabotaged, including underground and electricity aspects. Iran accuses the Mossad of responsibility for the damage.

The exact relationship between the damage to Natanz facilities in 2020-2021 and the damage done on Friday is unclear, though the Friday damage appeared to be potentially more comprehensive.

Is Israel able to strike Fordow with the same success?

Although the IDF has capabilities that could damage and cause cave-ins at Fordow, no IDF official has made a statement yet about having attacked the site.

It has been widely known since the US used the 30,000 pound mega bunker buster MOAB ("Mother of All Bombs") in Afghanistan in 2017 (officially called the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb), a weapon that Israel does not possess, that Washington has greater capabilities for potentially destroying Fordow.

There are also still open questions about how much of Iran's 60% enriched uranium and advanced centrifuges have been damaged by the attacks, given that even public International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports have said many are at Fordow and others are spread out.

There have also been foreign reports of explosions at Fordow and Isfahan, with previous reports indicating that these could be from the ground, given that many Iranian nuclear facilities have been the subject of sabotage before.