Iranian media: Uranium moved from Fordow pre-strike

If the Iranian claim is true, Mordechai Kedar said, “then that shifts the focus of the coming Israeli operation, and possibly that of the U.S., to the delivery mechanisms: the ballistic launchers.”

By Canaan Lindor, JNS

Following President Donald Trump’s statement that the U.S. Air Force “obliterated” Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday, Tehran’s state-run Mehr news agency reported that the enriched uranium at the Fordow site had been moved elsewhere beforehand.

“Most of the uranium that was previously stored at the Fordow enrichment facility has been moved to another location,” Mehr reported, citing an unnamed Iranian source.

Iran’s nuclear facilities have been “completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said in announcing the airstrikes on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. He called them a “spectacular military success,” without elaborating on them.

Mordechai Kedar, a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, told JNS he found the Iranian claim credible.

“The strike on the nuclear sites was effective in taking out the centrifuges for the production of enriched uranium. But Iran already has hundreds of kilos of enriched uranium, and it’s entirely likely that they dispersed it,” Kedar said.

If the Iranian claim is true, he added, “then that shifts the focus of the coming Israeli operation, and possibly that of the U.S., to the delivery mechanisms: the ballistic launchers.”

From the onset of the Israeli strikes that began on June 13, “rocket launchers were one of the two main objectives, not only because they’re used to target Israel now, but also as an integral part of the broader objective of neutralizing Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” Kedar said.

In his statement, Trump called on the Iranian regime to make peace, adding that “if they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.”

A group of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers took flight from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri early on Saturday morning and headed for Iran carrying GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) “bunker buster” bombs, the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) wrote about the strikes.

Fox News reported that six MOPs struck Fordow and 30 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles fired from an Ohio-class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines hit targets in Isfahan and Natanz.

U.S. Air Force Gen. John “Razin” Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, subsequently said at a news conference that the B-2 bombers dropped 12 of the 30,000-pound MOPs on Fordow, and two on Natanz.

The boat that fired the Tomahawks has not been named, but USS Georgia, which fields more than 150 Tomahawks, entered the region in September, USNI News reported at the time.

The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is operating in the North Arabian Sea, with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group due to arrive in the region this weekend, USNI News added.

The U.S. has also positioned two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers in the Red Sea (USS Forrest Sherman and USS Truxtun.) The Navy has stationed five ballistic missile defense ships in the area.

In addition to the naval presence, the U.S. has about 40,000 troops in the Middle East spread throughout Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Qatar and other areas, the USNI News report said.

In a statement, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, emphasized the importance of the strategic relationship and coordination between the IDF and the U.S. military. He added that the IDF will continue operations until the objectives of the operation are achieved.

Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform on Sunday: “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran,” naming Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. “A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” he added. “All planes are safely on their way home.”

Fordow was widely regarded as Iran’s best-defended nuclear site, as it was buried hundreds of feet under a mountain. Those protections raised questions about whether Israel was capable of eliminating the site in the absence of a U.S. attack using large “bunker buster” munitions delivered from American bombers.

Trump also shared a post saying that “Fordow is gone.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump spoke on Saturday night, the Israeli leader’s office said in a statement Sunday, providing no further details.

Netanyahu stated earlier that “President Trump and I often say: ‘Peace through strength.’ First comes strength, then comes peace.

“Tonight, President Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength,” Netanyahu wrote.

FordowIranuranium