Israel is considering hitting Iran's Fordow underground nuclear site alone as the US deliberates whether or not to join Israel with its bunker-buster bombs and B-2 Bombers for the mission, according to a report. Israel lacks the weapons to target this fortified underground facility but is still willing to strike it to "avoid losing its current momentum".
However, Israel still pins its hopes on joint action alongside the US as the most likely scenario, within 48-72 hours at most, UK-based Iran International quoted two unnamed Israeli sources. Israel hopes Trump would join it for an attack as early as Friday night but Israel is also deliberating going for it alone to avoid losing the military advantage it has gained this week.
The Fordow nuclear site, which has remained untouched so far, has been a target for the IDF since the conflict began. However, the underground nuclear enrichment facility remains buried and was built to be safe from aerial threats. To Israel, attacking the site is a priority, as reports say that the site has enriched uranium well beyond the accepted range, close to 83.7 per cent.
The only weapon capable of reaching the site and doing some damage would be the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 13.6-tonne “bunker buster” bomb, designed to destroy underground bunkers. The bunker buster can penetrate over 200ft but has not been used to attack such a site before, casting shadows over its effectiveness. However, the Pentagon is said to have assured Trump that it would work.
Israeli security sources said the window of opportunity to knock out the site was closing. "Until now the IDF (Israeli military) has opened up the flight path to Iran and the skies are open but that will be for a limited time, it can’t go on indefinitely," he told Iran International. "Therefore, if America decides to get involved, it has to be a decision made as fast as possible otherwise the opportunity will be missed," he added.
Though Israel has bombers, they are nothing in comparison to the B-2 Bombers, so Israel doing it alone would be a complex task. The F-15s owned by the IDF can travel only 2,000 kilometres with far smaller payloads of around 400 kilograms. "America could do that mission within a few days, but for us, it would be a much longer, more complex operation," the source added.
If the US were to jump on board and help attack the site, it has to be within two to three days, as the window of opportunity opened by the current attacks could be closed by then. Trump has remained ambiguous when it comes to Israel's proposal saying that "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do."
The Israeli sources said that they are hoping the war’s impact on the global economy could persuade countries to get involved quickly for economic interests saying, “So in general, America has to take this opportunity within 48-72 hours.”
