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Home » Israel continues to pound Iran

Israel continues to pound Iran

The New Neo Posted on by

I don’t think Iran expected this, but it should have. Israel has capacities that till now it hasn’t fully used – but the Israelis are plenty motivated to not only end Iran’s nuclear program but to end its present regime. The question of what comes after will have to wait; the answer is unknown.

It’s of particular interest that much of the world seems to be content to let Israel do this – especially the Arab world, most of which considers Iran the enemy.

Here’s a good summary of what’s occurred so far in the five days of war. Here’s an article (hat tip: commenter “physicsguy”) on Iran’s built-to-be-unreachable Fordow nuclear site:

“For Fordow to be taken out by a bomb from the sky, the only country in the world that has that bomb is the United States. And that’s a decision the United States has to take, whether or not it chooses to actually pursue that course,” Leiter said. But, he added, that wasn’t the only option: “There are other ways of dealing with Fordow.”

Destroying Fordow from the air would be almost impossible for Israel, according to a March report from the UK-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank and would require significant firepower and assistance from the United States.

It would not even be reachable by the US’ GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrator bombs, which only reach about 60 meters deep, according to the RUSI report. And the GBU-57 can only be delivered by US Air Force B-2 stealth bombers, something Israel doesn’t have – even if the US would give it the bombs.

“Even the GBU-57/B would likely require multiple impacts at the same aiming point to have a good chance of penetrating the facility,” said the report.

Everything is on the table. Iran and its leaders – the ones who remain alive – are very very vulnerable right now. And Trump delivers a message to the people of Tehran: get out of town. We have no beef with you.

Comments

Israel continues to pound Iran — 40 Comments

  1. The other way to destroy Fordow requires boots on the ground and lots of TNT. That is the extent to which I’d support us going in. It is not up to us to topple the current regime or install a new one.

  2. I believe the progressively diminishing numbers of ballistic missile launched by the IRGC as the days go by give a clear indication that Israel’s targeting of missile launching vehicles and missile stockpiles are having their desired effect. Too, each new barrage from Iran pinpoints new targets for the Israeli forces overhead, so ultimately aid in the near term outcome favoring Israel’s victory. Of necessity suffering strikes in Israel is part of that, and terrible, yet the sooner those may end is the aim.

  5. “…from the sky…”

    Might one wonder about “taking it out” from the sides?

  9. @neo: It’s of particular interest that much of the world seems to be content to let Israel do this – especially the Arab world, most of which considers Iran the enemy.

    ^^^
    _________________________

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    I need to call my old time, used to be
    Somebody loan me a dime
    Mmm, I need to call my old time, used to be

    –Duane Allman & Boz Scaggs, “Loan Me A Dime”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv60Dz9hUPo
    _________________________

    I miss Duane.

  10. Is Sophie actually a bot, and not a human paid to post things? Not that it matters from a bannination perspective. The profit motive would explain the persistent evasion nicely.

  11. I agree with @rjb1. Unfortunately, the only way to destroy the Fordow nuclear facility is the ancient one of infantry, the queen of battle.

  12. 1. Now that we know that Israel set up a drone base on Iranian soil, the plan may very well include a land-based attack on Fordow. There is certainly enough unused ordinance around to generate a massive shockwave.

    2. Here in Israel the air-raid alerts have been tapering off, which conforms to what we hear about Israel dominating Iran’s air space and cleaning out missile launchers. Friday night we had 3-4 trips to the bomb shelter; that number decreased by half on Saturday night. We then had a few one-off late morning attacks, which is not the preferred time to launch missiles (especially if your enemy is monitoring your airspace). I wonder if this indicates a breakdown in command, with panicked, disconnected operatives launching the missiles they have at their site.

  13. seeing that diagram, of Fordow, how exactly did they manage to construct it,

  14. And Trump delivers a message to the people of Tehran: get out of town.

    It occurred to me that if half or more of the peoples of Tehran actually did get out of town, that… in and of itself… would cause great havoc.

  15. Link to an editorial from the WSJ, because it just wouldn’t be a post from me without one:

    https://archive.md/lRMvU

    Meanwhile, the enrichment site at Fordow, which is buried deep under a mountain, has barely been touched. The enriched uranium at Fordow is believed to be enough to produce several bombs. The danger is that if Iran retains the nuclear fuel it has already highly enriched, as well as its centrifuges to enrich more, the country could sprint to make a bomb.

    This is where the U.S. comes in. Israel lacks the deep penetrating bombs, and the heavy bombers to deliver them, that could do more damage to buried sites. The U.S. has both, and Israel would like U.S. help in taking out those nuclear sites.

    Which got me thinking, how do we know these “deep penetrating bombs” even work? Maybe it’s in our national security interests to find out.

    By the way Niketas Choniates, spectacular use of the word “ bannination”.

  17. ”Which got me thinking, how do we know these ‘deep penetrating bombs’ even work?”

    By testing them at test sites such as the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico (GBU-57), the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada (GBU-28), and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida (GBU-72). All but the GBU-57 have been used operationally by the United States and / or Israel in Iraq, Gaza, Yugoslavia, Yemen, and other places.

  18. “especially the Arab world, most of which considers Iran the enemy”
    Sunni vs Shia; Arab vs Persian
    No love lost on either count

    No love lost for either on my part

  20. It looks like from the diagrams that it would take several MOPs to take Fordow out because it is spread out over a wide area. So maybe a special ops team may have to go in and destroy the equipment and whatever nuclear fuel has already been produced? IMO, not a good idea to spread that stuff around.

  21. How about using a little imagination? Why not just bury the entrances to Fordow under tons of rubble and let everyone down there die a slow death. Unless they have heavy equipment to remove the rubble they will be buried until someone rescues them from the outside. They’ve probably got a nuclear power plant down there to provide electricity and basic needs. The one thing that they won’t be able to do is restock the food supply. They are guaranteed to run out after a month or so. Let them.

  22. I think Trump wants Iran to surrender so this facility can be dismantled under international supervision.

  24. Before we entered WW2 we “leased” the UK 50 ships and sold them munitions. It is widely reported that B-52’s can carry and launch the GBU-57 massive penetrator so let’s lease Israel a few 50 year old bombers and let them have at it. No need for us to get involved beyond following the precedent set by a former democrat President!

  26. They might have concluded that the only way to destroy it for the long term is to leave it low-grade radioactive enough to be lethal, and then bury it completely. To paraphrase Ripley, ‘Nuke it from within – it’s the only way to be sure’.

  27. Refining is a tricky process. I think one Israeli technique was to get the centrifuges to overspeed–snuck in some computer info to that extent–and they ruined themselves.
    Point is, you don’t have to make the place a giant sinkhole with bits of equipment sticking out of piles of rubble.

    Permanently inoperative would do. So even if a deep penetrator doesn’t get all the way through, it may collapse enough of the overburden to shut everything down permanently. To the point that starting over someplace else would be more economical. Not to mention obvious.

  28. According to David Albright the centrifuges can self-destruct due to harmonic resonance induced internal wobbles, the so-called pogo problem kinda.

    They’re feelin’ those good bad vibrations!

  30. Refining is a tricky process.

    It is indeed. Mine some uranium ore and the majority of it is going to be U-238, but what you’re looking to extract is U-235. That is the “weight” of three neutrons. How in the hell do you separate those two things? Niels Bohr thought it couldn’t be done and the Manhattan Project was folly.

    And I second the thumbs up to sdferr’s link. That was great.

  32. There are some that propose that Iran already has enough weapons-grade for a bomb. Seeing the videos of those hypersonic missiles landing in Israel is impressive. I guess their payload capacity, is limited, but wow they’re fast coming in. Iran has long been known for their dire threats, seemingly proved empty. Now they’re making them again. I’d hate to see, for example, small nukes combined with hypersonics.

    Thanks for the Tablet link, I remember when the Israelis caused the centrifuge banks to self-destruct via hacking in, way back when.

  33. Israel: 60 Jets over Iran, Wiping Out Missile Batteries

    The Israel Defense Force (IDF) said Tuesday evening that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) had 60 fighter jets over western Iran, wiping out dozens of ballistic missile batteries to end the Iranian threat to Israeli civilians.

    The Times of Israel reported: “IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says 60 Israeli Air Force jets set out for an ‘extensive wave of strikes in the heart of Iran,’ a few hours ago, targeting ballistic missile launchers aimed at Israel.

    In a video, Defrin said that Iran had been “pushed back into central Iran” and was firing missiles from “the area of Isfahan.”

    “We are aiming at military targets,” Defrin added. “They are attacking civilian homes.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/06/17/israel-60-jets-over-iran-wiping-out-missile-batteries/

  34. We toppled Saddam Hussein. What became of his supporters?
    If Khamenei is removed, what will become of his supporters?
    If the Democrat party is defanged, what will become of its supporters?

  35. Given the Israeli infiltration of every other aspect of the Iranian Political and Military Machine, I find it almost inconceivable that they don’t have assets inside Fordow. With the above ground Iranian forces neutered, Israeli army units inside Iran conducting operations – would it be unforseeable that Israel could enter Fordow with assistance from assets inside and then blow it up with explosives – rather than needing bunker busting bombs and b2 bombers ?

  36. LordAzrael: it is possible. Israel’s infiltration thus far seems more from a thriller than from reality. My take: possible, but not probable.

  37. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) said Tuesday evening that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) had 60 fighter jets over western Iran….

    Even if the Iranians can’t shoot anything down you’d think it’s inevitable that at least one of those planes is going to experience a mechanical failure at some point. I’ll be praying they can get the pilots out.

  38. a certain cohort of those regular Army and Mukharabat became the dead enders, not usually the shaheed martyrs those were imported from Europe and points South, in the Gulf States,

    it looks like the IAF took out the remaining Ttomahawks which were the tipoff the film was referring to Iran, (top gun Maverick) no other middle east force uses that type of plane, some used Mirages most use MIG’s

    In the my enemy of my enemy category, many Al Queda commanders received Sanctuary, in Tehran’s Northern province, Seif al Adel among them, Zarquawi who would become notorious in Iraq, at least transited through there, it wasn’t that hard, he had been given the training camp in Herat, Adel, a former Egyptian Army colonel, would organize the cells inside the kingdom in 2003 and 2004,’
    some elements of Vevak supported the Taliban from 2003 on,
    conversely some Western assets apparently employed some Sunni militants the group that’s called Jundallah,

  39. so there was no big reveal,

    https://www.arabnews.com/node/2604890/middle-east

    nor did I expect it really, now i’m sure there are cells of Hezbollah and Houthis not only in Europe but in the US, that are ready to act, if need be,

    one of the earliest terror attacks in the West, was when a
    restaurant was attacked inside Torrejon spain in 1985, one suspected it was what Hezbollah was going by, Islamic Jihad Organization, but evidence suggests it came from another part, the red headed Syrian, Mustafa Setmarian who would organize, the Madrid and London bombinngs,

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