The United States offensive against Fordow’s underground nuclear installation in Iran may have followed a precise and symbolic strategy: aiming directly on bunker ventilation ducts, considering the fragile points of the structure. The information is in an analysis of the The New York Timesbased on satellite images and interviews with nuclear security experts.
The technique refers to a famous scene of “Star Wars”, in which protagonist Luke Skywalker destroys the star of death by hitting a ventilation duct. The resemblance to the military attack inspired comparisons on social networks, leading users to mock the vulnerability of the Iranian project.
“They sent a bomb in the duct. No one in Iran watched Star Wars?” Joked a netizen.
Continues after advertising
Satellites show craters in the targets
The satellite images, captured by Planet Labs and Max’s Technologies, reveal at least six craters in a mountainous region where the Fordow base is located. Marks on the ground indicate that the US would have used bunker-bster bombs designed to penetrate rock and concrete layers.
Specific targets would have been two ventilation wells identified by older images, 2009, when Fordow was still under construction. Although these structures were later covered, analysts believe they continued to operate as internal air channels and exhaustion.
“Reaching a well of ventilation would make sense, because it already breaks the integrity of the mountain,” Mark Fitzpatrick told the International Institute of Strategic Studies to NYT. Nuclear Threat Initiative expert Scott Roecker reinforces: “They are probably the most vulnerable points of the installation.”
Continues after advertising
Damage still under evaluation
Despite the statements of President Donald Trump, who said on Saturday (21) that Fordow had been “Completely obliterated”US and Israel military authorities adopt more cautious tone. Images show that the central support building seems to have resisted the offensive.
According to analysts, the attack may have had B-2 bombers and At least three anti-Bunker pumps released at two strategic pointscausing partial and ash collapses visible at the top of the mountains.
There is still no confirmation on damage inside the structure, which houses centrifugal and sensitive material from the Iranian nuclear program. Iran, in turn, It claims that it withdrew enriched uranium before the offensivebut did not indicate his new destination.
