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← The June 22 Strikes

Natanz: Hit by Israel First, Then by America

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED. The UN nuclear agency (IAEA) reported the damage at Natanz during the war; the Pentagon confirmed its own bombs there.

Natanz is Iran's main uranium enrichment complex, in the desert of central Iran, with a pilot plant above ground and large enrichment halls underground. It was the first nuclear site Israel struck, on the opening morning of the war. America bombed it again nine days later.

June 13: Israel strikes first​

On the first morning, June 13, Israel struck Natanz. An early report the same day noted that Natanz was hit and the Bushehr power reactor was not targeted (@sentdefender). The IAEA's statement that day, as preserved in the research captures, said Bushehr was not targeted and Fordow "not impacted yet."

Over the next days the agency reported more:

  • The above-ground pilot enrichment plant was destroyed.
  • On June 17, the IAEA said it had seen further evidence of direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls (@Osint613; @Osinttechnical). The Institute for the Study of War summarized the IAEA that evening: Israeli strikes likely damaged or destroyed thousands of centrifuges at Natanz (ISW on Threads).
  • The IAEA reported "radiological and chemical contamination" inside the site, but not outside it (@robinmonotti).

Israeli officials celebrated. On June 24, Netanyahu said: "We destroyed the critical facilities in Arak, Natanz, and Isfahan" (Al Jazeera, June 24, 2025). Note which site is missing from his list: Fordow, the one America had to bomb.

June 22: America strikes again​

Of the fourteen GBU-57 bunker-busters dropped by seven B-2 bombers, the Pentagon's count put twelve on Fordow and the rest on Natanz. The Council on Foreign Relations noted that Israel had damaged Natanz first, with the US then "dropping one of the American bunker buster bombs," and quoted the IAEA's view that the underground halls were "severely damaged if not destroyed altogether" (CFR). Maxar released an image of a fresh crater at Natanz on June 22.

How much was destroyed​

  • The Pentagon's own preliminary intelligence report found the three sites "had suffered moderate to severe damage, with the facility at Natanz damaged the most" (New York Times, June 24, 2025).
  • The Institute for Science and International Security later estimated damage at about 75 percent for the main Natanz plant and 95 percent for the Natanz research and development area (as summarized by Michael Rothman, May 4, 2026).
  • Natanz was the one site Israel could reach without American help. Its destruction owes most to Israeli bombs dropped on June 13 and after.

Where the uranium was​

The IAEA's last full accounting before the war counted about 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. According to Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, citing IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, the 60 percent material was stored at Isfahan and Natanz (Ben Taleblu, April 16, 2026). Bombing the halls did not account for the material. See The Missing Uranium.

The site next door: Pickaxe Mountain​

Near Natanz, Iran has been building a deeper tunnel complex under a peak known as Pickaxe Mountain. On the night of the strike, Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies asked publicly whether it had been hit (Dubowitz, June 22, 2025). A June 28 summary said it had been left "untouched," more than 300 meters deep (@inside_IL_intel). Israel's allies in Washington were already naming the next American target.

Status: Benjamin Netanyahu, Rafael Grossi, Behnam Ben Taleblu and Mark Dubowitz are alive, as far as these sources show.

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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