As concerns grow over Iran’s nuclear capabilities, defense analysts and military planners are revisiting the question of whether the country’s most fortified enrichment site — the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant — could ever be destroyed in a military strike.
Fordow, located near the holy city of Qom and just south of Tehran, was originally a military base. Now, it is home to one of Iran’s most secure nuclear sites, buried 80 to 90 meters beneath a mountain. The facility is designed to house up to 3,000 centrifuges, including advanced IR-4, IR-6, and IR-8 models — many of which are restricted under the now-eroded 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
First revealed to the public in 2009, the site has remained at the center of international scrutiny.
According to Anatoliy Maksymov, an analyst and international affairs journalist, Iran has used Fordow to enrich uranium from 10–20% purity up to 60%, nearing weapons-grade levels.
“The next step,” he said, “is 90%, and that’s the threshold for a nuclear weapon.”
The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security estimates Iran could convert its stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium — reportedly over 400 kilograms — into 233 kilograms of weapons-grade material in just three weeks using Fordow’s centrifuges.
That’s enough for approximately nine nuclear bombs. Israeli assessments suggest the number could be as high as 15.
Yet, the central question remains: can Fordow be destroyed?
Maksymov argues that Israel alone does not have the capability to take out the underground complex.
“Their largest bunker-busting bombs can only penetrate around 10 meters. Fordow lies far deeper,” he noted. That leaves the United States as the only country with the firepower to potentially neutralize the site.
The U.S. Air Force’s GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, carried by B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, is capable of burrowing up to 61 meters underground before detonation. But even this weapon might require multiple hits to effectively damage the deeply buried halls of Fordow.
If the appearance of B-2 bombers on Diego Garcia becomes public, Maksymov suggests, it could be a clear indicator of a pending strike.
Short of full destruction, Israel could still conduct operations to temporarily disable the facility. This might include precision strikes on the facility’s five known tunnel entrances or attacks on its power supply and ventilation systems. Maksymov also points to the possibility of a commando raid.
“Israel’s Shaldag Unit carried out such an operation last year against an underground missile plant in Syria,” he said. “But Fordow would be a far more complex and dangerous objective.”
The facility remains a strategic challenge: designed to survive conventional strikes, embedded in hardened rock, and guarded by layers of physical and electronic defenses. Any military option would carry considerable risks — both technical and geopolitical.
For now, Fordow stands as both a symbol and a stronghold of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Its destruction may be possible, but not without U.S. involvement — and not without consequences.