https://www.csis.org/analysis/options-targeting-irans-fordow-nuclear-facilityOptions for Targeting Iran’s Fordow Nuclear Facility
Published June 18, 2025
In order to achieve its stated objective of dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, Israel will need to take out a key Iranian facility, the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. Fordow is buried deep under a mountain near Qom and is believed to be one of the key sites of Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities, about 54,000 square feet in size, with 3,000 centrifuges. Due to its hardening and depth, Israel lacks the ordnance to take out Fordow on its own in the short term; however, multiple strikes from the U.S. GBU-57, carried out by U.S. B-2 bombers, could destroy the facility. It has been reported that President Trump is weighing his options for whether or not to strike Fordow. On the one hand, Israel’s attacks on Iran’s military and nuclear assets have created a unique opportunity for significantly undermining the country’s potential for developing nuclear weapons. Given the administration’s stated nonproliferation objectives, with JD Vance stating, “the president hates nuclear proliferation. I hate nuclear proliferation”, striking Fordow could be a tempting prospect. On the other hand, using the GBU-57 would constitute direct support for Israel and have the potential to escalate and drag the United States into another war in the region.
...The GBU-57 and U.S. Support
The United States is the only country with conventional ordnance to penetrate the depths of Fordow. The GBU-57 has never been used in combat, but has been put through extensive testing; it is believed the United States has approximately 20 of the bombs available.
...Sustained Israeli Strikes
While Israel does not have the GBU-57, it does have the GBU-28 and the BLU-109, both of which have penetration capabilities to burrow into a target; however, they could not go deep enough to reach the Fordow facility, which is approximately 80 meters underground. Both are delivered from Israeli F-15Is. The GBU-28 is speculated to have already been used in Israeli strikes on Iran, including the Natanz Nuclear Facility, and some reports indicate it has also been used against Fordow, though there is supposedly no major damage to the facility. The BLU-109 has been used in major Israeli military operations in the past, such as the 2024 strikes on Lebanon.
...Sabotage
Israel has a long and relatively successful history of using sabotage to set back Iran’s nuclear program. Israel was a key contributor to the 2010 Stuxnet cyberattack on Natanz, including by contributing malware and providing a staging ground. In 2020, Israel killed Iranian lead nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh using a remote-controlled machine gun, although Israel has never confirmed its involvement in the assassination. Other sabotage efforts included the use of car bombs and motorcycle gunmen to assassinate key military and nuclear figures in Iran.
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Nuclear Weapons
While Israel might not have the conventional ordnance to destroy Fordow, it is believed to have the nuclear capability to do so.
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Another option would be for Israel to signal a willingness to use nuclear weapons or escalate the conflict in order to destroy Fordow. This might not require “introducing” nuclear weapons explicitly either in rhetoric or in operations but rather hinting at such capabilities to signal commitment in the hopes of coercing Iran to back down and return to negotiations
...Dismantlement by Diplomacy
The final option is to return to dialogue and attempt to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy
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The only short-term solution that might avoid this tradeoff is Israeli sabotage
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