Israel targeted active nuclear weapons research facility in Iran strikes last month — report

The Israeli strikes on Iranian military facilities last month destroyed an active nuclear weapons research facility in the Parchin military complex, outside of Tehran, Axios reports, citing three US officials, an Israeli official and a former Israeli official.

According to the report, the strike significantly damaged Iran’s efforts to resume nuclear weapons research.

Speaking to Axios on the condition of anonymity, a US official says that the Iranian government was using the facility for “scientific activity that could lay the ground for the production of a nuclear weapon.”

The research was said to have been carried out in a way that would allow it to be passed off as research for civilian purposes.

The research facility, once used to test explosives needed for setting off a nuclear device, was believed to be inactive following the official shutdown of Iran’s nuclear program in 2003, but US and Israeli intelligence began to detect activity at the site earlier this year, Axios reports.

The report cites a US official as saying that “there was concern across the board” regarding the Parchin facility.

In an hours-long operation on October 26, dozens of Israeli aircraft targeted strategic military sites across Iran — specifically drone and ballistic missile manufacturing and launch sites, as well as air defense batteries — with explosions reported in the areas of Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan and Shiraz.

Iran has pledged to retaliate, while Israel has threatened major consequences against Tehran if it does.