Israel’s military is reportedly taking aim at a pillar of Iran’s nuclear program, the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. 

Israeli and Iranian media reports said Israel carried out strikes on the heavily fortified Fordow facility about 150 miles south of Tehran, following up on its strikes on other nuclear facilities and top Iranian military commanders on Thursday. Israeli reports said the extent of the damage to the Fordow facility has not been fully assessed yet. 

The second day of strikes comes as Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel’s “Rising Lion” operation will “remove” the threat of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon.

The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, reported damage to Iran’s “main enrichment facility” at Natanz, which Israeli spokesmen said was destroyed. The Israel Defense Force spokesman, Effie Defrin said that in addition to “significant” damage to Natanz, Israel also struck at another facility at Isfahan, where Iran is suspected of experimenting in preparing the military aspect of its nuclear program.

However, there have been questions about how effective any operation to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program can be without targeting the Fordow facility, built deep under a mountain near the Muslim holy city of Qom.

The Fordow plant contains Iran’s most advanced centrifuges, and it is believed that the regime’s nuclear program would survive if the facility was still accessible and operable despite the destruction of other facilities.

Tehran has referred to Fordow as a “deterrent,” as it was strategically placed in a location that it believed Israel could not reach without advanced bunker-buster bombs. 

America has bombers that can carry the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs that analysts believe would be necessary to destroy Fordow. However, Israel does not have bombs of that scale. 

The Financial Times reports that Israel possesses 4,000- to 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, and while their exact number is closely guarded, analysts do not believe it has enough to destroy Fordow outright. There has been some speculation that Israel could block off the entrance to Fordow to render the facility inaccessible. 

The reported strike on Fordow came hours after Israel carried out extraordinary strikes that eliminated Iran’s senior military leadership.

After the first strikes, President Trump posted on Truth Social that Tehran should make a deal over its nuclear program before there is “nothing left.” Speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash, Mr. Trump said the “hardliners” who were involved in the negotiations are “dead.”

When asked if that meant Israel killed them, the president responded, “They didn’t die of the flu, they didn’t die of Covid.”

Tehran is expected to carry out strikes on Israel in retaliation. American officials said the Pentagon is positioning warships in the region to assist Israel in defending against the expected attack.