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US has struck 3 Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says, joining Israeli air campaign
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US has struck 3 Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says, joining Israeli air campaign

(TJV NEWS) As the confrontation between Iran and Israel escalates, growing attention is being placed on one of Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear sites: the Fordow uranium enrichment facility, buried deep inside a mountain about 60 miles south of Tehran.

Military officials and defense analysts, citing the site’s extreme depth and resilience, have told the Daily Mail that only the most powerful weapons in the U.S. arsenal—possibly even tactical nuclear warheads—may be capable of fully neutralizing the threat.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, American military officials privately acknowledge that conventional weapons, including the 30,000-pound GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs, may not be sufficient to completely destroy the Fordow facility. One unnamed official was quoted as saying, “The nuclear warhead has to happen… given the location, from what I’ve read and what I’ve seen, it’s a difficult spot.”

Tactical nuclear weapons—designed for battlefield use with lower yields than strategic nukes—are being discussed not as a first-choice option, but as the only reliable way to guarantee the destruction of the deeply-buried enrichment facility.

According to the Daily Mail, officials say this could be deployed only after conventional strikes to “soften” the terrain, followed by a final nuclear payload from U.S. stealth B-2 bombers, launched from Diego Garcia or similar strategic airbases.

President Trump, who has so far given Iran a two-week window to negotiate a potential de-escalation, has reportedly not been fully briefed on the nuclear contingency, according to the Daily Mail. However, all options remain “on the table,” and U.S. defense officials have confirmed that deployments to the region have increased significantly.

The Guardian further corroborates the assessment of Fordow’s resilience, citing sources familiar with Pentagon briefings who say that GBU-57s alone—even dropped in multiples—would likely only bury the site in rubble temporarily.

Retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, a former deputy director of the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), told the Guardian, “It might set the program back six months to a year. It sounds good for TV but it’s not real.”

Trump has reportedly been reluctant to greenlight any strike unless there is clear assurance that Fordow would be fully neutralized.

According to The Guardian, defense leaders including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine have not formally proposed the use of a tactical nuclear option, but internal military assessments have pointed to its possible necessity.

The Fordow site, which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently found to be enriching uranium up to 83.7%—alarmingly close to the 90% purity needed for weapons-grade material—has become a focal point of international concern. Israeli officials, frustrated by the limitations of conventional strikes, have urged the U.S. to act decisively and provide the necessary military hardware.

However, as The Guardian reports, the bunker buster approach is fraught with challenges. The GBU-57 requires a GPS signal to guide its trajectory and must be dropped from B-2 stealth bombers flying undetected into heavily defended Iranian airspace. Even then, its success is not guaranteed.

Israel, meanwhile, has considered unilateral options, including commando raids on the facility—a high-risk proposal reportedly dismissed by Trump. Without U.S. cooperation, Israel lacks the capability to penetrate the mountain-buried Fordow installation.

In light of these factors, the military standoff now hinges on a sobering calculus: whether to accept a partial delay in Iran’s nuclear progress via conventional strikes, or to break historic precedent and consider the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in combat for the first time in history.

As diplomatic talks hang in the balance and military forces brace for escalation, the future of the Fordow facility—and the broader Middle East—may depend on the decisions made in the coming days inside the White House Situation Room.