Adapted by:
Miguel Jorge
WriterJournalist. I've spent more than half of my life writing about technology, science, and culture. Before landing here, I worked at Telefónica, Prisa, Globus Comunicación, Hipertextual, and Gizmodo. I'm part of Webedia's cross-section team.
Karen Alfaro
WriterCommunications professional with a decade of experience as a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. As a travel and science journalist, I've collaborated with several print and digital outlets around the world. I'm passionate about culture, music, food, history, and innovative technologies.
Operation Rising Lion against Iran wasn’t just another attack. This offensive has become a battle between the two nations and seeks two things unlikely to happen in the short term. First, it aims to overthrow the Ayatollah regime by inciting the population to revolt. Second, it aims to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program. On that point, one name stands out above all others: Fordow.
The nuclear mountain. At the heart of Israel’s strategic concerns is an imposing structure invisible to the naked eye yet decisive in the nuclear dispute with Iran: the Fordow uranium enrichment facility. It lies buried almost a third of a mile under a rocky mountain near the holy city of Qom.
Surrounded by a ring of air defenses and protected by reinforced concrete, this underground bunker represents Iran’s determination to shield its nuclear program. It poses an extreme technical challenge to any attempt at destruction from the air. For Israeli strategists, Fordow is an impenetrable geological fortress—and the possible genesis of a “nuclear breakout,” the point at which Iran could convert its highly enriched uranium into material suitable for nuclear weapons.
Two approaches, two threats. While Israel inflicted significant damage on the more exposed and shallower Natanz enrichment plant through attacks that may have disabled its electrical infrastructure and centrifuges, Fordow remains active, with intact operational capabilities and greater resistance to conventional strikes.
According to analyses by the Institute for Science and International Security, the Fordow facility contains 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium. It could process 55 pounds of weapons-grade uranium within two to three days—enough to produce up to nine nuclear bombs within three weeks.
Bunker-buster bombs. Unlike Natanz, Fordow isn’t designed for large-scale civilian enrichment. Its purpose is to ensure continuity of the program even after an attack, underscoring its strategic importance. Buried much deeper than its counterpart, even the most powerful U.S. bunker-buster bombs, such as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, may not guarantee its destruction.
A satellite image shows the area where Fordow is located.
Secret origins and legacy. According to the Financial Times, Iran secretly built Fordow, which was revealed in 2009 through intelligence declassified by the U.S., UK and France. The disclosure prompted rare public condemnation from Russia and a warning from China. Despite international pressure, Iran defended the legality of the site and its supposedly peaceful nature.
The revelation led to harsher sanctions and ultimately to Fordow’s inclusion in the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Under this agreement, Iran agreed to transform Fordow into a research center, reduce the number of centrifuges, suspend enrichment, and submit to enhanced inspections.
What happened? In 2018, the U.S. withdrew from the agreement under the Trump administration, reactivating Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Following a 2021 sabotage operation at Natanz, attributed to Israel, Fordow returned to operation as the core of Iran’s 60% enrichment program.
A risk of nuclear breakout. The current fear is not only Fordow’s existence but also the possibility that it could become the hub of a deliberate withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In this scenario, Iran would abandon its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency, accelerate enrichment and assemble nuclear weapons.
These are assumptions—but developing a new, deeper, and more sophisticated complex in the Kuh-e Kolang Gaz Lā mountain, called Pickaxe, south of Natanz, adds weight to the threat. Unlike Fordow, Pickaxe has at least four entrances and more underground space, making any bombing effort more difficult. Iran has also blocked IAEA inspections of the new site, fueling suspicions that it may be hiding fissile material or even building a nuclear bomb in the event of open conflict.
Historical precedent. Fordow is the only large underground military base in the world to have been directly attacked, marking a milestone in the risks Israel has taken in striking such sensitive targets. Although intelligence assessments don’t show that Iran has formally resumed a nuclear weapons program since suspending it in 2003, the technical infrastructure, uranium stockpiles and strategic layout of sites like Fordow and Pickaxe suggest that if Tehran chooses to move forward, it already has the tools.
The enigma of the mountain. Fordow isn’t just a nuclear site. It’s a symbol of resistance, suspicion, ambition, and mutual fear. In a sense, it represents Iran’s determination to protect its program at all costs and its belief that its existence is an existential threat.
Its geological depth metaphorically reflects the nuclear dilemma’s complexity and deep roots in the Middle East. It’s a mix of technical, tactical, and diplomatic challenges that even the most powerful bombs cannot resolve.
Image | mohammad nasr (Unsplash) | Maxar
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