As Israel’s battle to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities continues, Iran’s most heavily-protected nuclear facility at Fordow, two hours from Tehran, remains intact.

Many military analysts believe that a two-ton precision bunker buster developed by and in sole possession of the U.S. is the only means of eliminating the Fordow site, which some claim may be capable of producing a nuclear warhead in as little as two to three days.

Jonathan Ruhe, Director of Foreign Policy for JINSA, spoke with Fox News Digital about bunker-busters, and how Israel or the U.S. might use them to eliminate the Fordow nuclear threat.

In Iran’s ‘Forever War’ Against The Us, Regime Has Targeted, Killed Americans Worldwide

Illustration showing how a GBU-57 Bunker Buster is deployed.

Ruhe said bunker busters are munitions designed to use the force of gravity to “penetrate through any mixture of earth, rock, and concrete before the bomb itself then explodes” underground. The explosion may either take out the target fully, or “collapse the structure” around the target “without necessarily obliterating it,” he explained.

Bunker busters come in multiple weight classes. Israel possesses 2,000- and 5,000-pound varieties. Only the U.S. possesses the 30,000-pound GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP).

Read On The Fox News App

Developed under President George W. Bush, Ruhe says the MOP was “designed specifically” for targets like Fordow, where nuclear sites or command and control bunkers are hidden far underground.

Two separate bombs are dropped by a B2 Spirit stealth bomber.

Ruhe said that the number of munitions required to target Fordow depends on the depth of the facility. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies states that Fordow’s facility is between 60 and 90 meters (196 to 295 feet) below ground. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi told The Financial Times last week that the facility reaches 800 meters underground.

Ruhe said Grossi, who has been to the Fordow facility, may have been “trying to message, ‘hey, military action is not the solution here.’”

Trump Says He May Or May Not Strike Iran: ‘I’ve Had It’

The illustration shows the first bomb exploding and creating a hole.

The MOP is said to have a penetration depth of 200 feet. Ruhe said that given Fordow’s distance underground and the difficulty of penetrating the rocky mountainside the site is dug into, the U.S. would likely use a technique called burrowing, in which a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber would “drop several MOPs in succession, one after the other.”

Fordow poses a unique target. Ruhe said that pilots have to take into account the facility’s multiple, narrow exit tunnels, and achieve the right angle of impact to penetrate the ground.

Though Israeli air dominance over Iran has eliminated the need for stealth air assets, Ruhe believes the stealth B-2 would be the only tool adequate for delivering the MOPs. Ruhe said timing constraints make the use of B-52 bombers “not relevant.”

Additionally, Ruhe explained that talk of loaning B-2 bombers to the Israeli Air Force is “a dangerous distraction.” Not only is there “0.0% chance” that the U.S. would give out this strategic capability, but Ruhe says training Israeli pilots to fly the B-2 would take several months.

A second bomb follows into the hole and explodes, causing more damage.

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that “destroying [Fordow] from the air is a job only the U.S. can do.”

Iran Warns Us Joining Conflict Would Mean ‘All-out War,’ Refuses Demands To Give Up Disputed Nuclear Program

Given that Israel is “very tactically inventive” and “very good at maximizing the capabilities they do have,” Ruhe says that Israel could achieve its goals at Fordow without the MOP.

Not only did Ruhe offer the unlikely but not impossible scenario where Israel might “storm the site in a commando raid,” but he said that Israel could use F-15s, escorted by F-35s, to deliver multiple 5,000-pound bunker busters over Fordow, utilizing the same burrowing tactic the U.S. would likely employ.

FILE – In this Oct. 25, 2015, file photo, a U.S. Air Force B2 Spirit stealth bomber performs a flyover at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.

Such a strike, he admitted, would “achieve a more limited definition of success” than the MOP could.

The U.S. and Israel are likely to have different goals in targeting Fordow, Ruhe said. “Americans tend to think of obliterating targets,” Ruhe said, whereas Israel would “probably be fine with saying they knocked back the operations there by a year or so.”

Ruhe estimates that the bunker busters may not completely destroy the facility, but that it may be considered a success if it were to knock out the power source to Iranian centrifuges, or making “the air too polluted” for centrifuges to operate.

Israel has “successfully knocked out the other parts of Iran’s fuel cycle” in Natanz and Isfahan, Ruhe said. “If you want to prevent a nuclear Iran, Fordow is a big part of that,” Ruhe said. “But it’s only just a part of what still needs to be done and thought about.”

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this article.

Original article source: How bunker buster bombs work and how they could destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear site

Bannon, Greene, and Carlson warn of another Iraq-style disaster as Trump weighs striking Iran alongside Israel.

Iran and Israel traded further air attacks on Thursday as President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the United States would join Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear and missile facilities.

A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed two dozen civilians in Israel.

The worst-ever conflict between the two regional powers has raised fears that it will draw in world powers and deliver another blow to the Middle East, where the spillover effects of the Gaza war have undermined stability.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday, Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel’s air campaign. “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.

Trump in later remarks said Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting. “We may do that” he said, adding “it’s a little late” for such talks.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rebuked Trump’s earlier call for Iran to surrender in a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday.

“Any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” he said. “The Iranian nation will not surrender.”

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its program is for peaceful purposes only. The International Atomic Energy Agency said last week Tehran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva to urge Iran to return to the negotiating table, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

But while diplomatic efforts continue, some residents of Tehran, a city of 10 million people, on Wednesday jammed highways out of the city.

Arezou, a 31-year-old Tehran resident, told Reuters by phone that she had made it to the nearby resort town of Lavasan.

“My friend’s house in Tehran was attacked and her brother was injured. They are civilians,” she said. “Why are we paying the price for the regime’s decision to pursue a nuclear programme?”

A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear installations.

But the prospect of a U.S. strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.

Senior U.S. Senate Democrats urged Trump to prioritise diplomacy and seek a binding agreement to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, while expressing concern about his administration’s approach.

“We are alarmed by the Trump administration’s failure to provide answers to fundamental questions. By law, the president must consult Congress and seek authorization if he is considering taking the country to war,” they said in a statement.

“He owes Congress and the American people a strategy for U.S. engagement in the region.”

DRONE ATTACKS

On Thursday morning, a missile warning was issued by Israel’s military and explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said several civilian areas, including a hospital, were hit by Iranian missile strikes.

In Iran, the ISNA news agency reported that an area near the heavy water facility of the Khondab nuclear facility was targeted by Israel.

Earlier, air defences were activated in Tehran, intercepting drones on the outskirts of the capital, the semi-official SNN news agency reported. Iranian news agencies also reported it had arrested 18 “enemy agents” who were building drones for Israeli attacks in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video released by his office on Wednesday, said Israel was “progressing step by step” towards eliminating threats posed by Iran’s nuclear sites and ballistic missile arsenal.

“We are hitting the nuclear sites, the missiles, the headquarters, the symbols of the regime,” Netanyahu said.

Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.

Netanyahu also thanked Trump, “a great friend of the state of Israel,” for standing by its side in the conflict, saying the two were in continuous contact.

Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States might join it.

In social media posts on Tuesday, he mused about killing Khamenei.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, asked what his reaction would be if Israel did kill Iran’s Supreme Leader with the assistance of the United States, said on Thursday: “I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to.”

Putin said all sides should look for ways to end hostilities in a way that ensured both Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear power and Israel’s right to the unconditional security of the Jewish state.

Since Friday, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel, some 40 of which have pierced air defences, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

The Iranian missile salvoes mark the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that a significant number of projectiles fired from Iran have penetrated defences, killing Israelis in their homes.

Iran has reported at least 224 deaths in Israeli attacks, mostly civilians, but has not updated that toll for days.

U.S.-based Iranian activist news agency HRANA said 639 people had been killed in the Israeli attacks and 1,329 injured as of June 18. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Israeli president calls on the world to help destroy Iran nuclear sites

toggle caption Benny Doutsh for NPR

JERUSALEM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog told NPR that his country would welcome international support in its war to eradicate Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel says was on the threshold of building atomic weapons.

President Herzog — who holds a largely ceremonial role in Israel — spoke to NPR in his official residence in Jerusalem Wednesday, as President Trump was still weighing whether to intervene militarily in Iran. Trump is believed to be considering potentially authorizing B-2 bombers with bunker-busting bombs to take out Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear sites.

Sponsor Message

Trump had earlier demanded an “unconditional surrender” from Iran, which he said meant: “I’ve had it. OK, I’ve had it. I give up. No more. Then we go blow up all the, you know, all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place there.”

While Israel has not publicly called on the U.S. to join its offensive against Iran, Herzog said intervention from “nations” would certainly be welcomed.

“There’s a bigger picture here that the world and the American people should understand,” he said. It was just hours before Iran fired another missile barrage at Israel, which it has done repeatedly since Israel began attacking Iran last Friday.

“We have to stop this empire of evil — no more! — and tell them, get the goddamn nukes out of your hands. And start behaving in a decent way and not be the rogue state you are all over the world. It’s impossible,” Herzog said.

Iran has insisted its enrichment program is only for civilian purposes, though nuclear experts say it has enriched uranium to levels where it could be poised to break out and produce several warheads.

Israel shared intelligence with the U.S. before attacking Iran

Herzog said that Israel has been planning the attack on Iran for months, but the decision to carry it out was made only a few days ago, after Israel shared intelligence with the United States that Herzog said showed Iran’s plans to break out and produce a nuclear weapon.

Sponsor Message

“I don’t say that we got the approval from the United States, nor did we cooperate, but we’ve exposed to the Americans the hard intelligence and evidence that we have,” he said.

It was the first time an Israeli leader has spoken publicly about sharing such intelligence with the U.S. The Israeli president said the U.S. knew for days that Israel was considering a strike on Iran.

A person familiar with the matter told NPR on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject that Israeli officials aren’t asking the U.S. to join the war but that they would be happy for their closest ally to actively participate, and believe the U.S. will in fact step in militarily.

That intervention could prove vital to Israel’s war aims: Only the U.S. military has the 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs that could possibly penetrate the defenses of Iran’s Fordo nuclear site, built into the side of a mountain, and it is also only the U.S. that possesses the aircraft powerful enough to deliver them.

Israel says its airstrikes have established dominance of the skies over the Iranian capital of Tehran and the western part of the country, where the main nuclear facilities are located. Israel and the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency assess that the attacks have severely damaged other sites, such as Natanz, but Fordo is the hardest to destroy.

The war could weaken Iran’s regime

Herzog also said that the war could weaken Iran’s regime so much that it may even fall. He said the government’s collapse could change the face of the region and, in his opinion, lead to an end of the war in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas since 2023, when the Iran-backed Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel.

Sponsor Message

However, some regional security analysts warn that a U.S. intervention could widen the conflict and provoke Iranian strikes on U.S. military bases in the Gulf, as well as oil infrastructure in the Gulf, which could send shockwaves through world markets.

Trump approves Iran attack plan but waiting to give final order, US media reports

Donald Trump has approved attack plans for Iran but withheld the final order, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reports Trump told senior aids he was holding off to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear programme first.

It cited people familiar with the deliberations.

US involvement could be vital for Israeli goals to end the Iranian nuclear programme.

Washington’s “bunker buster” bombs would be one of the only ways Israel could destroy some of the more defended targets.

The Fordow nuclear site, for example, is embedded in the side of a mountain, deep underground, out of reach of all but the most powerful bombs.

Watch: Nuclear sites targeted in Iran

Israel has attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television said.

The report said that there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had already been evacuated.

Israel had warned earlier Thursday that it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.

The warning on X included a satellite image of the plant in a red circle like other warnings that preceded strikes.

The Israeli military said Thursday’s round of airstrikes targeted Tehran and other areas of Iran, without elaborating. It later said that Iran fired a new salvo of missiles at Israel, and it told the public to take shelter.