US attacks three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israeli air campaign as Tehran promises to retaliate.
aje.io
4m ago
(00:55 GMT)
What’s the significance of the three sites the US has attacked?
Reporting from Doha, Qatar
We haven’t had any confirmation or reaction from Iranian officials yet.
But Iran’s position has been very clear. It has said that if the US takes part in this military campaign alongside Israel, the Iranians will consider US troops and bases in the region as legitimate targets for attack.
There are about 19 US bases in the Middle East, which are home to about 40,000 US troops, and the Iranians have said that these troops will not be safe if the US joins this conflict.
I also want to point out that the three locations the US has bombed are significant in Iran’s nuclear programme.
The facilities at Fordow and Natanz – these are the only two nuclear facilities in which Iran has been enriching uranium at 60 percent levels. And in Isfahan, also a facility that Iran uses to convert uranium.
According to an IAEA report from 2022, 90 percent of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is stored at this facility in Isfahan. So these are critical sites within the broader picture of Iran’s nuclear programme.
There are six nuclear facilities in Iran, and the three that the US has targeted are a critical part of the whole programme.