In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel launched its most daring and aggressive strike yet against Iran, targeting the heart of Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure. According to a detailed report by The New York Times, this marks the largest known Israeli operation on Iranian soil—an alarming escalation in Tel Aviv’s decades-long campaign to sabotage Iran’s peaceful nuclear development.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was quick to brand the operation a direct hit on “Iran’s main enrichment facility”—the heavily fortified Natanz nuclear complex, which has long been the centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program.
Targeting Natanz: Israel’s Attempt to Delay the Inevitable
The report, authored by foreign affairs correspondent David E. Sanger, suggests that the main objective of the Israeli strike was to delay or derail Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons. However, the extent of the actual damage remains unclear at this stage.
Sanger claims that the Natanz facility, which produces the majority of Iran’s enriched uranium, has stockpiled material close to weapons-grade levels. The article points out that Iran’s nuclear advancements—particularly since the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal—have been concentrated in Natanz, where more advanced centrifuges have been installed and enrichment has accelerated.
However, the paper notes that Fordow, Iran’s other major enrichment site, remains untouched. Buried deep underground, Fordow is significantly more fortified, and there is no evidence so far that it was targeted in the latest strike. Experts cited by The New York Times caution that as long as Fordow remains operational, Iran retains its core nuclear enrichment capabilities, including the potential to produce weapons-grade uranium.
A Two-Decade Shadow War Comes to Light
This attack is just the latest chapter in a 20-year shadow war waged by Israel and the United States against Iran’s nuclear program—a campaign that has included everything from the infamous Stuxnet cyberattack to targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
While these operations may have caused temporary delays, they failed to stop Iran’s scientific and strategic momentum. Tehran has repeatedly rebuilt and even expanded its nuclear capabilities in the face of sabotage.
The 2015 nuclear agreement, for a brief period, imposed strict limitations on Iran’s nuclear program. It forced Iran to give up 97% of its enriched uranium and capped enrichment levels well below weapons-grade thresholds.
But President Trump’s withdrawal from that deal in 2018 unleashed a new phase. Iran not only resumed enrichment—it accelerated it. Today, Iran is enriching uranium at 60% purity, just shy of the 90% threshold needed for a nuclear bomb.
How Real Is the Nuclear Threat?
The New York Times cited recent reports by international inspectors indicating that Iran possesses enough enriched material to produce at least nine nuclear warheads. This claim has been widely used by Netanyahu and Israeli officials to justify the latest offensive.
Yet it’s worth questioning the credibility and motives behind such claims—especially when they come from a regime with a hidden nuclear arsenal of its own, one which has never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and which operates with impunity under Western protection.
Beyond attacking infrastructure, Israel also reportedly aimed to assassinate key Iranian military and nuclear figures, thereby broadening the scope of the operation beyond mere facilities.
But Did It Really Work?
Despite the bravado and media spin, significant doubts remain.
As long as Fordow is intact, Israel may not have meaningfully weakened Iran’s nuclear potential. Analysts interviewed by The New York Times warn that unless the most secure Iranian site has been breached, the core of Tehran’s enrichment capacity remains unharmed.
In the end, while this strike may be hailed in Tel Aviv as a bold and strategic success, the report concludes that it is far too early to determine whether Israel has shifted the region’s strategic balance, or whether it has simply ignited a far more dangerous phase in an already volatile conflict.
What is certain, however, is that the Islamic Republic is no stranger to rebuilding, resisting, and responding. If the Israeli regime thinks it can destroy a sovereign nation’s nuclear capabilities while escaping the consequences, it may soon learn the hard way that Tehran will not back down from defending its national interests—nor will it forget.
