Israel launches airstrike on Iran's Fordow the day after US bombing…"Access blocked"

On the 23rd (local time), the day after a US airstrike, Israel again attacked the Fordow nuclear facility in Qom Province, central Iran.

The Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency reported around noon on this day, quoting a local official in the Qom region, that "Israel has conducted a renewed attack on the Fordow nuclear facility."

Tasnim stated, "According to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) official's announcement, there is no danger or threat to the public," and claimed, "Although the United States attacked the nuclear facility the previous day, there was no significant damage."

The Israel Defense Forces soon issued a statement confirming the attack, stating, "We conducted an airstrike to block the access route to the Fordow enrichment facility."

On this day, the Israel Defense Forces continued intense airstrikes by dropping more than 100 bombs on major security-related installations in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

Israel Katz, the Israeli Minister of Defense, announced via X (formerly Twitter), "Under instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and myself, the military is attacking regime institutions in central Tehran with unprecedented force."

According to Minister Katz, the main targets of this airstrike included △ the headquarters of the Basij militia, a paramilitary group linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), △ Evin Prison, known for holding political prisoners, △ the clock tower erected in Palestine Square in 2017, which counts down to the "destruction of Israel by 2040", and △ the IRGC's security organization.

According to Tasnim, Evin Prison in northern Tehran holds anti-government figures including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi (53), and the prison stated, "Some parts of the facility were damaged, but the situation is under control."

Furthermore, the Israel Defense Forces added that "the Sarallah Headquarters of the IRGC responsible for Tehran, the Sayyid al-Shuhada Corps tasked with homeland defense, the Alborz Corps responsible for maintaining security in Tehran, and other security police facilities were also targeted in the airstrikes."

Earlier, the US military attacked the Fordow nuclear facility using a total of 12 GBU-57 bunker busters from 6 out of 7 B-2 bombers flown from the mainland to Iran in the early morning hours of the previous day.

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated in a release on the Fordow nuclear facility that, "Given the centrifuges' particular sensitivity to the explosive force and vibration of the bombs used by the US military, it is believed that very serious damage has occurred."

Bohbae Lee, Hankyung.com Contributing Reporter newsinfo@hankyung.com