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The "holy mountain" that hides Iranian nuclear power: What's in the structures 90-100 meters underground

2025-06-16 22:01:44Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Fordow

A uranium enrichment plant built underground, capable of withstanding missile attacks without suffering much damage: only the Americans have the right bombs to damage it.

The key is protected by the "holy mountain", the Fordow nuclear facility. It is inside this giant bunker that Iran has installed some of the centrifuges needed to enrich uranium. A difficult target even for the Israeli air force, which has so far only been able to "scratch" the outside of this vital facility.

The Islamic Republic, since the first days of its existence, has carefully followed everything that happened in the Middle East. Taking into account its own experiences, always difficult, and those of its neighbors. For eight years it fought with Iraq, also using surface-to-surface missiles, a means of warfare that is irreplaceable today. During that period, Iran witnessed the Israeli attack on the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor, the first act of counter-proliferation undertaken by Tel Aviv. And it understood that, if it wanted to develop the atomic sector, it had to think about how to protect it.

Thus was born the plan to build underground structures capable of withstanding strikes, such as Fordow and, most recently, Kolan Gaz, south of Natanz.

The construction of the “laboratory” began in 2006-2007, while the regime only acknowledged its existence in 2009. The choice of location was determined by the characteristics of the mountainous area, perfect for use as a “shelter”. According to some interpretations, there is also a symbolic aspect: the Fordow region had a high percentage of “martyrs” during the conflict with Saddam Hussein’s troops and is located not far from the holy city of Qom, a reference point for the Shiite religion.

Of course, this second aspect is insignificant compared to the security requirements and the value of scientific research in a strategic field. The facility will consist of a series of large spaces, where the equipment is located.

A report by the British institute RUSI estimates that these spaces are located at a depth of 90-100 meters - enough to withstand an Israeli air strike.

The Air Force has anti-bunker weapons and has used many of them to eliminate Hezbollah leaders who were sheltering in galleries built under buildings, but it does not have in its arsenal the GBU-57A bombs developed by the Pentagon, which can only be dropped by B-2 bombers.

For this very reason, these days observers and diplomats have been repeating in the media: only with an American intervention is it possible to damage Fordow, and even that is not certain.

Several hypotheses have been formulated, taking into account the layers of concrete, soil and other materials used by workers to turn the "center" into a fortress. But always with a dose of doubt due to the lack of accurate data. The internal defense is accompanied by countermeasures around the perimeter, to prevent attacks by foreign commandos.

A few months ago, a reconstruction of IDF plans published in the New York Times did not rule out a special forces intervention after an airstrike, an alternative to compensate for the lack of sufficiently powerful bombs. And an action by elite Israeli troops in Syria in March, with the raid on the secret underground missile factory in Maysaf, was interpreted by some as a dress rehearsal for a possible operation in Iran.

It is expected that the Pasdarans have increased the number of troops to make any enemy intervention, or even simple sabotage, another method used by the Mossad to damage Natanz, extremely dangerous.

But there are some cards that you can only play once, the opponent learns the lesson, although the latest episodes show that in Tehran someone has not done their job to the end, between mistakes and underestimations. In circumstances like these, information can serve as a nebula, even more so in an endless crisis, with repeated scenarios and an increasingly unstable framework. /Corriere della Sera

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