By T N Ashok
NEW YORK: Suspense mounts over when the US will join in Israeli pounding of Iran to completely destroy its nuclear facilities., one thing standing in the way is the Fordow facility, deeply embedded in a mountainous region virtually in the under belly which Israel cannot reach on its own – it does not have the air borne or strike capability to take out this enrichment facility.
A centrifuge in an atomic reactor is the machinery that spews out uranium, the raw material for making the dirty bomb. You need an enrichment facility to turn uranium into plutonium of weapon grade to make the nuclear bomb.
Israel has succeeded per western media report all the centrifuges needed to get uranium. But enrichment facilities it has struck only a few including the biggest of them all at Nantz. Fordow is eluding Israel’s reach.
While US President Donald Trump cut short his G-7 visit to return home, he was sending signals to hawks in Washington that he was in charge and not them on the Iran Israel situation. While he may have hesitated in direct military action, fearing a backlash in Arab world and at home on retracting on the America first policy, the West German chancellor’s statements supporting Israel should encourage him, incentivize him to act early.
Actions are better than words. Stating that US knew where Iran’s supreme leader was hiding and that it had complete control over Iranian including the hideout of the Iranian supremo Ayatollah al Khameini, the 80-year-old religious pontiff. Billboards have emerged in Tel Aviv urging Trump to join the war.
Bravado statements are pouring in from Tehran quoting the Ayatollah saying he will not surrender, that he does not fear the U.S. Government. Whatever the situation, the atmosphere is electric as both countries rain missiles on each other bombing all civilian targets and residences forcing people to seek shelter in underground shelters, not military bunkers, but underground subways and metro stations.
While it may be debatable issue whether a sovereign country like Iran ought to be attacked by Israel crossing the boundaries of international respect, mutual, for interfering, attacking the democratic integrity and sovereignty of an independent nation, UN may cry foul, but fact remains Iran is not a democracy, it’s a theocratic state ruled by a Muslim clergy not in tune with modern times but in ancient civilizations enforcing religious edicts which do not fit into the modern world. The people in the country are oppressed, there is no freedom of expression, any disobedience to the edicts of the Muslim clergy is swiftly dealt with by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
India and Pakistan went nuclear and tested their warheads underground causing international uproar — leading sanctions on both countries — but India was a democracy and affirmed that it was pursuing nuclear power for only peaceful purposes but it can turn into nuclear arms if threatened by another country. Pakistan advanced the same argument.
The western world led by the US called for international inspections at least through the IAEA but India refused. The US had been negotiating for many years for India to sign the nuclear non proliferation treaty, NPT for short, but failed, but both countries are good friends and do great business with each other.
Ultimately it’s a question of trust. The US has the trust that India will not use nukes unless its sovereignty is threatened. But Iran is not trusted by the White House.
So Israel’s target is now the Fordow enrichment facility burrowed deep into a mountainous region which ordinary missiles cannot take out. Israel needs the US. The US has the bombing capability.
President Trump’s National Security Council has provided him with a range of options for a potential strike on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility — if he chooses to go for military action. But the site is a difficult and hardened target, built deep under a mountain.
If Trump chooses to take a shot at this facility, he will likely need to rely on one of America’s rarest weapons — the so-called “bunker buster.” There are actually a few weapons that can be described as such but Fordow will require the biggest one: the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which can only be dropped by a B-52 or B-2 bomber. Related to the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, sometimes known as the “Mother of All Bombs,” the MOP weighs about 30,000 pounds and is more than 20 feet long.
What is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, also known as the ‘bunker buster’. Precision-guided and purpose-built for striking at heavily fortified targets buried deep underground, it has only been in the U.S. arsenal for a little more than a decade, reports say.
The MOP’s real capabilities are closely guarded and a state secret, but experts opine it can penetrate at least 200 feet below the surface before it detonates. Moreover, MOPs can be stacked — so to speak — to effectively drill down to a target located deeper than 200 feet.
Fordow is located at an estimated 260 feet below the surface, meaning two MOPs would likely be required. Given that only America’s largest strategic bomber aircraft can deliver such a massive weapon to its target, use of the MOP is not without risk. U.S. bombers would require clear skies, making air superiority crucial. Trump of course has claimed control of the sky over Tehran, and Israel has been striking air defenses. The path may already be clear.
In a significant development, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the United States against providing direct military aid to Israel as it continues to strike Iran. “We warn Washington against such even speculative, theoretical options,” Ryabkov told Russian news agency Interfax while answering a question about possible U.S. intervention in the Middle East conflict. “This would be a step that would radically destabilize the entire situation,” he added. Next 48 hours will show in what direction, the Middle East war goes. (IPA Service)
