According to the report, only the U.S. military possesses a bomb capable of destroying the site—a 14,000-kg bunker-buster designed to penetrate deep underground bunkers before exploding. This weapon, carried only by the American B-2 stealth bomber, has a thick steel casing and minimal explosives to allow deep penetration before detonation.

Israel does not possess this bomb or the aircraft to deploy it, and the U.S. has repeatedly declined to provide either. Still, military sources suggest Israel might target surrounding infrastructure, such as electricity facilities powering the centrifuges inside Fordow, to cripple its uranium enrichment capabilities.

Strikes on Fordow are seen as critical to halting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. In March 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency found uranium enriched to 83.7% purity at Fordow—just below the 90% needed for a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. has bolstered its military presence in the Middle East with additional aircraft and refueling planes but maintains its stance against giving Israel the bunker-buster. Former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Joseph Votel explained this policy: “We often refrained from providing that weapon because we didn’t want the Israelis to use it.”

Iran built Fordow underground specifically to avoid the fate of Iraq’s surface-level Osirak reactor, destroyed by Israel in 1981. Over the years, Israel has drawn up various plans to strike the site. One plan, presented to the Obama administration, involved sending in commandos via helicopters. A similar operation in Syria last year succeeded in destroying a Hezbollah missile plant in Masyaf.

Still, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, Votel’s successor, warned that “Fordow remains an extremely difficult target.”

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Yehiel Leiter, hinted on Sunday that Israel has “options to deal with Fordow—not everything depends on bombing from the air.”