Satellite image showing destroyed buildings at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center in Iran on June 22, 2025. (Credit: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters)
Israel bombed several nuclear facilities in Iran during the 12 days of the war it launched on June 13. On June 22, the U.S. Air Force joined the conflict, targeting facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.These strikes sparked fears of a serious escalation in the Middle East, but it’s not the first time nuclear sites have been attacked in the region. Let’s take a look back at three key cases.1981: The Osirak reactor in IraqOn June 7, 1981, Israeli warplanes bombed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad, as part of Operation Opera, aka Operation Ofra. The strike, carried out without U.N. authorization, followed Iraq’s 1976 purchase of the reactor from France, ostensibly for electricity generation.Israel suspected Saddam Hussein’s regime of planning to use the nuclear reactor — which had the capacity to produce plutonium, a key...
Israel bombed several nuclear facilities in Iran during the 12 days of the war it launched on June 13. On June 22, the U.S. Air Force joined the conflict, targeting facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.These strikes sparked fears of a serious escalation in the Middle East, but it’s not the first time nuclear sites have been attacked in the region. Let’s take a look back at three key cases.1981: The Osirak reactor in IraqOn June 7, 1981, Israeli warplanes bombed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad, as part of Operation Opera, aka Operation Ofra. The strike, carried out without U.N. authorization, followed Iraq’s 1976 purchase of the reactor from France, ostensibly for electricity generation.Israel suspected Saddam Hussein’s regime of planning to use the nuclear reactor — which had the capacity to produce...
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