TEHRAN: Israeli airstrikes have inflicted critical damage on a major Iranian nuclear facility over the weekend, potentially setting back Iran’s uranium fuel cycle by several months, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The IAEA confirmed that multiple Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, located approximately 400 km south of Tehran. The damage is described as severe and could significantly impair Iran’s nuclear capabilities, as Isfahan is the only facility in the country capable of converting raw uranium into feedstock for centrifuges — a key step in the process of uranium enrichment used for both civilian energy and nuclear weapons development.
The agency added that, as of late Friday, Israeli attempts to damage other critical Iranian nuclear installations have been largely unsuccessful. The deeply buried Fordow enrichment plant, located around 1,640 feet beneath a mountain, remains intact. Likewise, Iran’s primary enrichment site at Natanz has only sustained limited surface-level damage, with no breaches reported in the reinforced underground halls where the actual enrichment takes place.
Despite not completely halting Iran’s enrichment capabilities, Israel’s offensive has nonetheless dealt a strategic blow, nuclear experts say. “By disabling the Isfahan conversion facility, Iran’s ability to process fresh uranium for enrichment is essentially paused,” one expert noted. “While Iran still possesses stockpiles of enriched material, its ability to expand production in the short term has been curtailed.”
The attacks mark a significant escalation in the long-simmering shadow war between Israel and Iran and have raised global concerns over potential disruptions to nuclear diplomacy and regional stability.
