Israel is said to have carried out a military strike on the Iranian province of Isfahan. The country's nuclear facilities are located there. Were these the target?
Isfahan - US officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out military operations against Iran. Iranian state media reported that anti-aircraft batteries had been activated. Earlier there were reports of explosions near a large air base near the city of Isfahan in the province of the same name.
Isfahan, central Iran, is home to a number of important military facilities, including nuclear facilities, a large air base, and factories for Iranian drone and other military production. Both the well-known Natanz uranium enrichment plant and the Iranian uranium conversion plant are located in the province. Three small research reactors supplied by China have been in operation since 1999. These are responsible for fuel production and other activities as part of a civil nuclear program.
Israel accuses Iran of building nuclear weapons: Can this program be stopped by attacks?
The nuclear program has long been a thorn in Israel's side. It has murdered nuclear scientists and carried out attacks on the facilities over the years. The physical attacks came in the form of drone strikes and commando raids, including one in January 2018 on a facility in Tehran in which Mossad agents stole a large number of classified documents. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, these prove that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program. In April 2021, Iran accused Israel of staging an explosion at Natanz that resulted in significant damage to the centrifuges. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the attacks.
According to a report by the Arms Control Association in Washington, Iran's nuclear program is now too advanced and widespread to be effectively dismantled by military action. On the one hand, according to the US magazine
The Conversation
, this would require circumventing or overwhelming Iran's air defense systems with a large-scale attack. In addition, Iran has moved many facilities underground - and the knowledge of how to build such a bomb cannot be destroyed by attacks.
“No means to destroy Iran’s nuclear program”: The facilities remain intact
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - a frequent critic of Netanyahu - recently said: "Israel can do a lot to damage Iran's infrastructure, but Israel has no means to destroy Iran's nuclear program."
According to Iranian state television, the facilities remain intact following the latest attack. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed there was "no damage" to Iranian nuclear facilities, while the head of the UN nuclear regulator, Rafael Grossi, called for restraint. He warned that nuclear facilities should never be the target of military conflict.
Radar facility in Isfahan could have been the target - the province is the center of weapons production
Initial speculation suggested that a radar facility at a major Iranian air base in Isfahan may have been the target of the latest attack. This is reported by the British
Guardian
. The aging fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcat fighter jets is also based there. These were purchased before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Equally important are the Iranian weapons production facilities in and around the city. Isfahan is a center for missile production, research and development for Iran. This also includes the assembly of Shahab medium-range missiles that can reach Israel and other countries. Early last year, an attack was carried out on a supposedly advanced weapons production facility in the city, for which Israel was blamed. Like the current attack, three drones were involved in this one.
(tpn)