Iran building nuclear facility deep enough that US bombs would likely be incapable of destroying it: Report
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Iran is continuing work on a nuclear facility that is so deep, experts fear the convention U.S. weapons may not be powerful enough to destroy them with airstrikes.
"So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb," Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told The Associated Press in a report Monday.
The satellite imagery of the site, which is protected by fencing, anti-aircraft batteries, and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, shows four entrances being dug into the mountainside. Analysts are able to estimate the depth of the entrances by looking at the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, which they say now indicated the facility is at depths of 260 and 328 feet.
Iran completing such a facility "would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral," Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association, told The Associated Press.
"Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping U.S. and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict," Davenport said.
However, analysts fear the bomb, which is officially known as the GBU-57, will be unable to reach the depths of the progressively deeper Iranian facility.
Iran has been inching dangerously closer to the ability to make nuclear weapons since the U.S. abandoned a deal struck with the country under former President Obama, saying it is now enriching uranium up to 60%. Under the terms of the previous agreement, Iran was prohibited enriching uranium above 3.67% purity.
However, Iran has denied it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, with Iranian officials telling the AP that "Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards."
Despite the claim, the country has limited the ability for international nuclear inspectors to inspect sites for years. Meanwhile, experts fear attempts to sabotage Iran's nuclear program may only work to drive it further underground.
"Sabotage may roll back Iran’s nuclear program in the short-term, but it is not a viable, long-term strategy for guarding against a nuclear-armed Iran," Davenport said. "Driving Iran’s nuclear program further underground increases the proliferation risk."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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