ALBAWABA — According to the New York Times, the recent U.S. bombing on Iran's heavily protected Fordow nuclear plant did not completely destroy the site, even though 12 bunker-busting bombs were dropped on it.
American and Israeli sources were quoted in the story as saying that Iran seems to have moved enriched uranium and secret equipment before the attack.
A top U.S. source said that the strike did "significant damage" to the Fordow site but did not destroy it. Similar assessments were made by Israeli military sources, who said that while key equipment was damaged, the site was still partly operating.
According to information from both the US and Israel, Iran knew about the attack and moved important materials, especially enriched uranium, away from the site before it happened. A different Iranian source told Reuters that the uranium was moved to a place that wasn't said, and that the number of people working at Fordow was cut down right before the attack, which backed up this opinion.
The Washington Post looked at satellite images and found that trucks and cars were moving in strange ways at the Fordow spot on June 19, two days before the bombings. Images showed several trucks leaving and lining up around key entry points, which adds to the evidence for a planned retreat.
As the conflict between Israel and Iran, which started on June 13, got worse, the U.S. strike, which also hit Iran's Natanz and Isfahan nuclear plants, happened. After Israeli strikes on military and nuclear sites and the killing of top Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists, the conflict got worse.
The first direct U.S. military action in the war was the attack on Sunday. President Trump called the operation a "military success," but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it could take days to get a full picture of Iran's moves of nuclear materials.
In answer, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps promised to fight back, saying they would do things that were "not in line with normal calculations."
