Trump weighs US strike on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility: The Guardian
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US President Donald Trump has considered a strike on Iran’s Fordow site using GBU-57 bunker busters, but remains unconvinced of their effectiveness.
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A satellite photo of Iran's Fordow enrichment facility, 2013. (DigitalGlobe via Getty Images)
An exclusive report by The Guardian said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of launching a strike on Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility, but only if the GBU-57 "bunker buster" bomb could guarantee destruction, according to sources familiar with internal deliberations.
Trump was briefed that the 13.6-ton (30,000lb) bomb could seriously damage the deeply buried site. However, officials say he remains unconvinced and is withholding any final decision, hoping instead that the threat of US involvement might pressure Iran into negotiations.
According to The Guardian, inside the Pentagon, doubts persist over whether the GBU-57 could fully destroy Fordow. Two defense officials briefed on the matter said some assessments suggest only a tactical nuclear weapon could accomplish the job, due to the depth and fortification of the site. That option, however, has not been considered by Trump or senior officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) concluded that a GBU-57 strike might only collapse tunnels and entomb equipment under rubble, temporarily delaying, but not eliminating, Iran’s nuclear capability.
Fordow facility may withstand conventional US bombing
Fordow, estimated by Israeli intelligence to lie nearly 300 feet (90 meters) underground, is shielded inside a mountain, according to the report, adding that the GBU-57, despite its destructive power, has never been used in a comparable real-world scenario.
Retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, the former DTRA deputy director, said a strike would likely be insufficient for permanent damage. "It might set the program back six months to a year. It sounds good for TV, but it’s not real," he noted.
The report stated that Israeli officials have long acknowledged that "Israel" does not possess the aircraft or bunker-penetrating ordnance required to strike Fordow. Some contingency plans involved sending commandos to destroy the facility from within, a plan reportedly dismissed by Trump as unfeasible.
While Israeli forces claim to have achieved partial air superiority over Iran, a successful strike using the GBU-57 would also require neutralizing air defenses and GPS jamming systems beforehand.
According to The Guardian, citing experts, a conventional strike on Fordow would likely delay Iran’s ability to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels for a limited period but would not dismantle its nuclear program entirely.
The White House and Pentagon have not commented publicly on the deliberations. However, the complex logistics and uncertain outcomes of such a mission have made a decision unlikely in the near term.
As Trump continues to weigh military versus diplomatic routes, Fordow remains a symbol of the challenge facing any effort to stop Iran’s nuclear advancements through force alone.
