New satellite images: US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities

The US joined Israel's strikes on Iran by hitting three Iranian nuclear sites

Welcome to Views From Above, a newsletter bringing you satellite imagery snapshots of major world events. Today, we are taking a look at the aftermath of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities

Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment facility is a complex buried deep underground. To target this site, the US used precision-guided bombs dropped from long-range bombers designed to penetrate deep into the earth before detonating. The imagery above, released by Maxar, shows entry points in the ground above the Fordow enrichment facility from several of these bombs hitting the site.

Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility was also targeted with precision-guided bombs. The satellite imagery above shows damage from the latest US strike, with other existing damage from previous Israeli strikes also visible. An impact point can be seen above the underground enrichment facility at Natanz, similar to the damage visible at Fordow.

A third location struck by the US was Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, shown above, which is Iran’s largest nuclear research complex. It houses sites that Israel has previously struck, including one for a uranium conversion — a process where uranium ore concentrate is made into a form that can be enriched.

Pentagon officials say that Iran’s nuclear sites sustained “severe damage,” but the full extent of the operation’s impact could not yet be assessed. In a joint statement following the US strikes, the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom called on Iran not to take any further action that could destabilize the region.

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