The race against time to destroy Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program heats up amid fresh strikes

The Iranian regime’s retention of cardinal atomic weapons facilities and its worldly for gathering atomic bombs — highly enriched uranium — has led to caller efforts by the U.S. and Israeli militaries to instrumentality retired the past vestiges of the regime's program.

On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said successful a connection that, that it's "Air Force Struck the Arak Heavy Water Plant—A Key Plutonium Production Site for Nuclear Weapons." The Arak works is located successful cardinal Iran.

Prior to Friday's attack, an IDF spokesperson told Fox News Digital concerning Arak, that determination is simply a "high estimation" that attacks connected "uranium enrichment sites are portion of the plan." The IDF declined to reply much circumstantial questions astir its people database and if immoderate crushed operations to retrieve the atomic weapons-grade uranium were being considered.

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An IDF infographic shows Iran’s Arak dense h2o plant, described arsenic a cardinal infrastructure for plutonium production. (IDF)

Reuters, quoting authorities media outlet Fars, reported that associated U.S.-Israeli strikes connected Friday deed the Khondab dense h2o probe reactor. 

A connection released by the IDF said, "Heavy h2o is simply a unsocial worldly utilized to run atomic reactors, specified arsenic the inactive Arak reactor, which was primitively designed to person weapons-grade plutonium accumulation capabilities. These materials tin besides beryllium utilized arsenic a neutron root for atomic weapons."

The IDF connection added that "The works was a important economical plus for the panic authorities and served arsenic a root of income for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, generating tens of millions of dollars for the authorities each year."

The regime's overseas curate posted a condemnation of Israel and warned the Jewish state, "Iran volition nonstop HEAVY terms for Israeli crimes."

According to an nonfiction published by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), "The IR-40 Arak, aka Khondab, Heavy Water Reactor and Heavy Water Production Plant day to the aboriginal 2000s… The reactor halfway plan was perfect for making important amounts of weapon-grade plutonium for atomic weapons."

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Jason Brodsky, the argumentation manager of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital, "The 1 atomic tract which hasn’t been deed to day has been Pickaxe Mountain, truthful striking that tract arsenic portion of Operation Epic Fury volition beryllium important to further degrade the Iranian atomic program."

A White House spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to President Trump’s furniture gathering comments astir Iran’s atomic weapons program. Trump said connected Thursday, "We're escaped to roam implicit their cities and towns and destruct each of their brainsick atomic weapons and missiles and drones that they're building."

A representation shows harm to Iran's Fordow atomic tract aft being struck by the United States successful Operation Midnight Hammer connected June 22, 2025. (Fox News)

David Albright, a physicist, laminitis and president of the Institute for Science and International Security told Fox News Digital that with respect to cardinal atomic weapons facilities that remain, "The elephants successful the structure are Natanz and Isfahan. There was an onslaught connected Natanz that the Iranians revealed, but the Israelis said we are not alert of an attack. So it indispensable person been the U.S.," helium claimed.

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He said that Natanz has enriched uranium. "The Iranians were doing betterment operations successful the underground substance enrichment works determination and continuing to physique this pickaxe upland passageway complex, which could clasp enriched uranium. Right adjacent to it is different passageway analyzable that was built overmuch earlier, astir 2007… And the Iranians sealed it up, fortified it. There is thing evidently important there."

Albright said U.S. and Israeli airstrikes "have not attacked the underground Isfahan site. We know, according to the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], highly enriched uranium is successful that site." He continued that, "There whitethorn beryllium an enrichment works nether operation successful that underground complex. We would similar that tract to beryllium attacked."

Iranian worshippers clasp up their hands arsenic signs of unity with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during an anti-Israeli rally to condemn Israel's attacks connected Iran, successful downtown Tehran, Iran, connected June 20, 2025.  (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Albright warned that the warfare should not extremity similar the erstwhile U.S.-Israel warfare with Iran successful 2025 with Tehran retaining the "crown jewels" of its atomic weapons program: highly enriched uranium and a fig of centrifuges.

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He warned, "You don’t privation it to travel retired of this warfare with the aforesaid benignant of atomic weapons capabilities that it had astatine the extremity of June warfare with a higher inducement to physique a bomb." He added, that is wherefore it's truthful important 'to decorativeness the job," successful Iran.