WP: Iran could pursue atomic bomb after US strike on nuclear sites

The June 21 US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities could push the Islamic Republic’s government to step up efforts to develop an atomic bomb, according to an assessment by The Washington Post (WP).

The assessment says that such a scenario is possible if Iran retains its uranium enrichment capabilities after the attacks.

So far, however, Tehran has not taken such steps, WP notes, citing US intelligence sources.

The newspaper described U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as an extraordinary gamble with a high risk of escalation, emphasising that no previous American president had dared to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The already tense situation between Israel and Iran, which is in its 10th day on June 22, deteriorated even more as US President Donald Trump announced late on June 21 that American forces conducted airstrikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The attacks, described by Trump as a “spectacular military success,” aimed to dismantle Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities, which the US and Israel claim pose a severe threat to global security.

The US operation involved B-2 Spirit stealth bombers deploying GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), 30,000-pound “bunker-buster” bombs designed to penetrate deeply buried targets. The primary target, Fordow, is a heavily fortified uranium enrichment facility located 300 feet beneath a mountain south of Tehran, making it one of Iran’s most secure nuclear sites. Six B-2 bombers dropped a dozen MOPs on Fordow, while US Navy submarines launched 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Natanz and Isfahan, according to US officials. Trump claimed the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities.

By Khagan Isayev