Key Points and Summary: Despite President Trump’s claims that the US “totally destroyed” Iran’s nuclear sites, the true success of “Operation Midnight Hammer” remains uncertain.
-According to a report from The War Zone citing Maxar satellite imagery, Iran may have sealed the tunnels to its deeply buried Fordow enrichment facility in the days before the US strike, possibly to thwart a ground raid.
-Experts like Jeffrey Lewis and David Albright told NPR that the US strikes were incomplete, as significant amounts of Iran’s highly enriched uranium were likely not at the targeted sites and their current location is unknown, meaning the program is “not over by any means.”
Did Iran Outsmart the US Strike by Sealing its Nuclear Tunnels?
In the days since U.S. planes struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, there has been uncertainty about whether the facilities were actually destroyed, with Iran’s future nuclear capability along with it.
Trump has claimed that “The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it,” while blaming the media for reporting with more ambiguity about the exact damage done.
While it doesn’t appear that any Western media outlets have reporters on the ground in Iran, reporting based on satellite imagery and expert testimony has shown that while the facilities have certainly been damaged, they may not have been destroyed.
“At the end of the day there are some really important things that haven’t been hit,” Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and someone who tracks Iran’s nuclear facilities, told NPR. “If this ends here, it’s a really incomplete strike.”
Lewis added that the strike doesn’t appear to have hit Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the location of which is unknown.
“I think you have to assume that significant amounts of this enriched uranium still exist, so this is not over by any means,” David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, told NPR.
Now, another report says that the tunnels leading up to Iran’s Fordow facility were likely sealed up before the U.S. struck.
But there’s also a possibility that nuclear material was moved out beforehand.
Sealing The Iran Fordow Tunnels
According to the War Zone, which cited satellite imagery, Iran likely sealed off the nuclear enrichment facility at Fordow in the days before the U.S. struck.
This was likely done to prevent a ground raid on the facility by Israel or the U.S.
Per the report, the sealing of the facility may have prompted the U.S. to go ahead with the attack. That attack, which Trump had mused publicly about for several days, did not come as a surprise, even if the timing of it did.
The War Zone cited images from Maxar Technologies.
“Maxar collected high-resolution satellite imagery on June 19th and June 20th of the Fordow fuel enrichment facility that revealed unusual truck and vehicular activity near the entrance to the underground military complex,” Maxar said in a statement, cited by The War Zone.
“On June 19th, a group of 16 cargo trucks were positioned along the access road that leads to the tunnel entrance of the facility. Subsequent imagery on June 20th revealed that most of the trucks had repositioned approximately one kilometer northwest along the access road; however, additional trucks and several bulldozers were seen near the entrance to the main facility and one truck was positioned immediately next to the main tunnel entrance.”
Was Nuclear Material Moved?
Perhaps the most important question raised by the imagery is whether Iran was able to move nuclear material, equipment, or other important items to another location before the U.S. strike.
“Though this does not look to be what is visible in the imagery, it still remains a possibility, in general,” The War Zone report said.
The report, though, seems to think the most likely answer is that the tunnels were being sealed. The vehicles appear to be dump trucks, while bulldozers and other vehicles seen in the imagery indicate that “earth-moving activities” were taking place.
“A comparison of the pre-strike imagery from Maxar with post-strike images that the company subsequently released shows Fordow’s entrances fully packed with dirt following Operation Midnight Hammer. In addition, at least some of the dirt looks to be ejected, further suggesting that the Iranians had filled the entry points on purpose beforehand,” the report said.
There had been speculation, before the strikes, that the U.S. or Israel might need to use ground troops in the operation.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
Ukraine War
Ukraine Is Really Winning the War Against Russia
