During Israel’s strike on Iran last month, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a top-secret nuclear weapons and research facility in Parchin, according to a new Axios report, quoting three US officials, one current Israeli official, and one former Israeli official.

While the site had been previously reported to be inactive, it is now clear that destroying the site “significantly damaged” Iran’s ability to create a functional nuclear weapon.

According to a former Israeli official, Israel “destroyed sophisticated equipment used to design the plastic explosives that surround uranium in a nuclear device and are needed to detonate it.”  For a nuclear bomb to detonate, a series of perfectly timed mini-explosions are required to trigger the nuclear device.

As a US official explained in the report, “They conducted scientific activity that could lay the ground for the production of a nuclear weapon. It was a top secret thing. A small part of the Iranian government knew about this, but most of the Iranian government didn’t.”

The Parchin facility, and specifically the Taleghan 2 building struck by Israel, was a part of Iran’s military nuclear program prior to 2003, when Iran allegedly halted the program.  Since the building was not a part of Iran’s nuclear program, and had been considered inactive, striking the building did not violate President Biden’s order for Israel to only strike military, and not nuclear sites in Iran.

High-resolution satellite images show the building has been completely destroyed.

{Matzav.com}