The US on Sunday carried out military strikes targetting three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran — Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, ending days of speculation over whether it would join its ally Israel's bombing campaign.
US President Donald Trump called the military strikes “very successful”, but warned Tehran against any retaliation, saying: “Remember, there are many targets left.”
And according to defence officials who spoke to CBS News, Washington had conveyed to Tehran that the strikes were limited and that it had no plans for regime change.
The officials also corroborated earlier media reports which revealed that President Trump had rejected an Israeli proposal to target Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Meanwhile, The New York Times, citing a US official, reported that six B-2 stealth bombers had dropped 12 bunker-buster bombs (GBU-57) on Fordow. The facility, buried beneath a mountain, is seen as central to Iran’s uranium enrichment programme.
It also reported that US Navy submarines had fired 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Natanz and Isfahan, while one B-2 bomber had dropped two bunker-buster bombs on Natanz.
While, Iran has yet to offer a damage assessment of the sites, satellite images taken on Sunday and analyzed by The Associated Press show damage to the entryways to Iran’s underground nuclear site at Fordo after US airstrikes targeted the facility.
The images by Planet Labs PBC also appeared to show damage to the mountain itself that Fordo is under. Sealing those entry tunnels means Iran would have to dig out the facility to reach anything inside.
The once-brown mountain had parts turned gray and its contours appeared slightly different than in previous images, suggesting a blast threw up debris around the site.
That suggests the use of specialized American bunker buster bombs on the facility. Light gray smoke also hung in the air.
What is buker buster?
The “bunker buster” broadly refers to bombs designed to penetrate deep underground before detonating.
In this case, it specifically refers to the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000-pound (13,600 kg) precision-guided bomb designed to destroy deeply buried bunkers and tunnels, according to the US Air Force.
Measuring 6.6 metres in length and equipped with a hardened steel casing and specialised delayed-fuse system, the GBU-57 is capable of penetrating up to 200 feet (61 meters) through rock or concrete before exploding — much deeper than standard munitions.
The only aircraft capable of deploying the GBU-57 is the US B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, produced by Northrop Grumman.
While theoretically any aircraft with sufficient capacity could deliver it, only the B-2 has been configured and tested for the task. With a range of 7,000 miles (11,000 km) without refueling — and over 11,500 miles (18,500 km) with aerial refueling — the B-2 can reach targets worldwide.
