Story perspectives

US B-2 Bombers Hit Iran’s Fordow Nuclear Site, Damage Limited

8/12/2026

Summary

Story summary

The United States bombed Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site on June 22 2025, using nine B-2 bombers that dropped twelve bunker-busting bombs and firing 30 Tomahawk missiles at Natanz and Isfahan.
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said Mossad operatives had visited Fordow multiple times and that the strike fulfilled a long-held Israeli objective.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization deputy head Behrouz Kamalvandi said the Fordow strike caused limited damage and no contamination concerns.

History

Historical Context

On 7 June 1981 Israel’s Air Force destroyed Iraq’s Osirak reactor with eight F-16s, creating the ‘Begin Doctrine’ that pre-emptive air strikes can halt nuclear proliferation. U.S. intelligence supplied targeting data, while the UN condemned the raid, yet Israel argued self-defence. The doctrine later guided Israel’s 2007 Operation Orchard against a Syrian site and continues to shape regional security calculations.

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Story summary

The United States bombed Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site on June 22 2025, using nine B-2 bombers that dropped twelve bunker-busting bombs and firing 30 Tomahawk missiles at Natanz and Isfahan.
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said Mossad operatives had visited Fordow multiple times and that the strike fulfilled a long-held Israeli objective.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization deputy head Behrouz Kamalvandi said the Fordow strike caused limited damage and no contamination concerns.

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