Israel destroys Iranian nuclear weapons research center - Axios
Photo: Israel destroyed a nuclear weapons research center in Iran (Getty Images)
In late October, the Israeli military destroyed an active, top-secret research facility for nuclear weapons development in Iran, according to Axios.
As the US and Israeli officials report, Israel's strike on the site, which was previously thought to be inactive, caused significant damage to Iran's efforts to resume nuclear weapons research.
A former Israeli official stated that sophisticated equipment used to develop plastic explosives surrounding uranium in a nuclear device, critical for its detonation, was destroyed.
One of the targets of the October 25 strike was the Taleghan-2 facility located in the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran. This facility was part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program until its suspension in 2003. The Institute for Science and International Security noted that it had been used for testing explosives essential for triggering a nuclear device.
Satellite images obtained after the Israeli strike revealed the Taleghan-2 building had been completely destroyed.
Israeli and US officials stated that activities observed at Taleghan-2 were part of Iran’s government efforts to conduct research that could be used to develop nuclear weapons, but could also be presented as civilian research.
Israeli and US intelligence began tracking research activities at the site earlier this year.
Last June, White House officials privately warned Tehran about this suspicious research activity. The United States hoped that this warning would force Iran to cease nuclear activities at the site, but this did not happen.
As Israel prepared its response to a massive Iranian missile attack on October 1, the Taleghan-2 facility was selected as a target. US President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Iranian nuclear facilities in order not to provoke a war with Iran.
However, since Taleghan-2 was not officially part of Iran’s declared nuclear program, Tehran cannot acknowledge the critical impact of the attack without admitting a breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel's strike on Iran and Tehran's response
On the night of October 26, Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran in response to a missile attack on its territory on October 1. The strike disabled a critical component of Iran's ballistic missile production program.
At the time, Iranian media, citing sources, reported that Iran did not plan to respond to Israel's attack.
However, on October 31, Axios, citing sources, reported that Iran was planning to strike Israel from Iraqi territory. The attack could be carried out by pro-Iranian militants and would involve a significant number of ballistic missiles and drones.
According to The New York Times, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered preparations for a strike on Israel.
