What is Iran's nuclear program? Can they build 'the bomb'?
Following Iran's missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, speculation has begun that Israel could strike nuclear facilities within the country. If nuclear facilities were to be targeted, Iran could face a very serious web of humanitarian, economic, and military problems.
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Iran's nuclear program is spread across many locations. While the threat of Israeli airstrikes has persisted for decades, only a portion of the facilities have been built underground. Iran currently possesses enough enriched uranium to build an atomic bomb.
However, because producing the bomb is a complex and challenging process, possessing enriched uranium does not mean that it can immediately produce 'the bomb'.
US and UN nuclear watchdogs believe that Iran had a coordinated, clandestine nuclear weapons program that it halted in 2003.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, however, denies having such a program or planning to have one.
Under an agreement reached with Western powers in 2015, Iran agreed to place restrictions on its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
Then-US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from this agreement in 2018. Following this development, Iran began to lift the restrictions on its nuclear program. Thus, the agreement that had been reached was effectively dismantled.
Since that date, Iran has been expanding its uranium enrichment program. The country has also decided to accelerate the necessary efforts to obtain the enriched uranium required for the production of a nuclear bomb.
Producing a nuclear bomb with enriched uranium is considered a 'time-consuming' task.
The New York Times (NYT) reported that Israel would target Iran's nuclear facilities.
In such a scenario, Iran's energy infrastructure could suffer damage that would be very difficult to repair.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to up to 60% 'fissile' purity at two facilities. According to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards, Iran may possess enough enriched uranium for nearly four bombs.
However, it does not appear possible for Iran to construct a 'bomb' in the short term.
If Israel were to target the facilities, Iran could also lose its enriched uranium.
The 'Natanz Complex' is the most important part of Iran's nuclear program.
Natanz is a complex at the heart of Iran's enrichment program, located south of Tehran, outside the holy city of Qom for Shia Muslims, on a plain adjacent to the mountains.
The facility houses various structures, including two uranium enrichment plants.
In a report by the NYT, it was stated that Israel could specifically target this complex.
In 2002, an Iranian dissident group in exile revealed that Iran was 'secretly' building Natanz, igniting a diplomatic tension between the West and Iran over nuclear intentions that continues to this day.