US strike dealt major blow to Iran's nuclear site, says Netanyahu

Israel hailed US involvement in June 13 strikes on Iran, marking first combat use of bunker-buster bombs to target Fordow's fortified nuclear and missile facilities

By Dan Williams

 

The US airstrike on the best-defended Iranian nuclear facility delivered “a great deal of damage,” but the full extent is not yet known, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.  

The Israelis pressed their own strikes after the US sorties. Netanyahu pledged in a news conference to continue Israel’s military campaign in Iran as well as in the Gaza Strip. 

 

The Fordow site, buried deep in a mountain south of Tehran, was one of three targets struck by US heavy bombers or submarine-launched missiles. President Donald Trump said Sunday in a social media post that the damage to the nuclear sites was “monumental,” though Netanyahu’s statement made clear that was still being assessed.   

 

Israel, which on June 13 launched air strikes designed to destroy Iran’s nuclear and missile projects, lauded the participation of the US, whose military wielded for the first time in combat the unique bunker-buster munitions required to penetrate Fordow’s fortifications. 

 

“Regarding Fordow, I think that we need to doff the cap to our great friend, to my close friend President Trump, for an excellent job which the US military and Air Force did,” Netanyahu said. “They dealt a great deal of damage to Fordow.”

 

He added: “We will of course study these things. And in any event we shall ensure that no threat is posed by these nuclear facilities.”

 

Israel does not yet know what became of enriched uranium stockpiles which Iran was believed to have kept at Fordow, an Israeli official said on the condition of anonymity. If the Iranians removed it ahead of the US strike, the fissile material could potentially be purified further to make fuel for warheads.  

 

Netanyahu declined to say how long the Iran operation might take. Israel and the US were conferring, he said.  

 

The showdown marks a risky new phase in Israel’s campaign against Iranian proxies like Hamas, which triggered the now region-wide conflict from Gaza when it invaded Israel in a killing and kidnapping rampage on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 Israeli residents. Israel has been retaliating ever since, killing an estimated 50,000 Palestinians and now turning its attacks on its arch-enemy’s nuclear program. 

 

Israeli forces recovered the bodies of three more hostages over the weekend, bringing to 50 the number still in captivity — 20 of them presumed to be alive.

 

“The operation in Iran helps in achieving the goal in Gaza,” he said. “Without the support, without the scaffolding provided by Iran, all of this structure is collapsing.” It would take time for this to “sink in” with Hamas, he added. 

 

Opinion polls have shown that most Israelis want the Gaza war ended, even with Hamas still standing, if it means the safe return of the hostages.