Two senior Israeli officials said that the Israeli strike at the end of October on the Iranian military complex in Parchin significantly hindered Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear bomb, if it chose to do so.
The sophisticated equipment destroyed in the attack was necessary to form and test the plastic explosives that encapsulate the uranium in a nuclear device, which is crucial to starting a nuclear chain reaction. Iran had previously used this equipment before it froze its military nuclear program in 2003.
Over the past year, Iran has resumed nuclear weapons research, according to US and Israeli officials, although it has not taken concrete steps toward building a nuclear bomb. Israeli officials noted that if Iran decided to develop nuclear weapons, it would need to replace the destroyed equipment.
They believe that Israeli or American intelligence would likely detect any attempt by Iran to build or acquire such machines. A senior Israeli official said: “This equipment represents a bottleneck. The Iranians are stuck without it.”
The Talghan 2 facility within the Parchin Military Complex was used before 2003 to test explosives needed for a nuclear device. This activity stopped when Iran suspended its military nuclear program. In addition, Israeli officials say the destroyed equipment has been stored at the site since at least 2003. A satellite image shows a missile engine casting facility in Khojir, following what a US researcher said was an Israeli airstrike that hit a building that was part of Iran’s defunct nuclear weapons development programme, near Tehran, Iran on October 26, 2024. (Credit: Planet Labs) Inc (Release via Reuters)
US and Israeli officials reported that Iran resumed scientific activities last year that could serve as the basis for developing nuclear weapons, although it could also be presented as civilian research. A US official said: “They conducted scientific work that could lay the foundation for the production of nuclear weapons. It was top secret, and was known only to a small part of the Iranian government.”
The strike disrupts Iran’s nuclear progress
The equipment destroyed in Talghan 2 was reportedly not used in these research activities but will be crucial in future stages if Iran decides to build a nuclear bomb. A senior Israeli official explained, “This is equipment that the Iranians will need if they want to move toward making a nuclear bomb. Now, they do not have it, and finding an alternative will not be easy. We will see any such effort.” .
When planning a retaliatory strike following the massive Iranian missile attack on October 1, Israel chose the Talghan 2 facility as a target. President Biden asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to target Iranian nuclear sites to avoid sparking a war with Iran, according to US officials. However, since Talghan II was not part of Iran’s declared nuclear program, Tehran cannot acknowledge its existence or damage to it without admitting to violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“The strike sent an inaccurate message that Israel has significant access to what is happening in the Iranian regime, even with activities that remain secret and known only to a very small group in the Iranian government,” a US official noted.
