Fordow was Iran’s nuclear stronghold, and more than just a uranium enrichment site. It was a symbol of defiance and a bargaining chip in nuclear diplomacy.
The site's fate is uncertain after several 30,000-pound US bunker bombs had been dropped on it. Iranian state media confirmed that part of the Fordow nuclear site area "was attacked by the enemy".
The site became the central flashpoint in the conflict between Iran and Israel and the US. Israeli officials reportedly viewed it as a priority target in their campaign to cripple Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and were pressuring Washington to intervene militarily to help neutralise it.
The site’s extreme fortification made it nearly impossible to attack without advanced bunker-busting weaponry, something only the US possesses.
Where is it?
The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) is located roughly 32 kilometres south of Qom, in the rugged terrain near the small village of Fordow, in central Iran’s Markazi province.
It is deep into the side of a mountain, adjacent to a military base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
This seems to be no accidental placement: Qom is Iran’s religious capital, home to its most powerful clerics. By anchoring its most sensitive nuclear site here, Iran symbolically tied its atomic ambitions to its religious and ideological core.
Why was it the 'crown jewel'?
Fordow has often been called the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear programme. The title comes not from size but from strategic survivability, secrecy, and symbolism.
It was one of the most heavily fortified nuclear facilities in the world. Buried under 80 to 100 metres of rock and reinforced concrete, it was designed to withstand military strikes, including those from bunker-buster bombs.
According to weapons analysts, only the US GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator – a 15-tonne bomb – had a chance of breaching it. Israeli bombs, by contrast, are widely considered insufficient for the job.
"Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," said President Donald Trump following the strikes on Fordow and other Iranian nuclear sites.
Fordow was built in secret in the mid-2000s and only revealed in 2009 after western intelligence agencies exposed its existence. Iran confirmed the site under pressure, but the episode fed suspicions that Tehran was pursuing a covert path to a nuclear weapon.
What happens inside?
At its core, Fordow was a uranium enrichment facility. This means it was not producing bombs or warheads, but spinning centrifuges that increase the concentration of fissile isotopes in uranium.
It was originally meant to enrich uranium up to 20 per cent for the Tehran Research Reactor. But it was enriching uranium to 60 per cent before the US strikes, a level approaching weapons-grade.
It hosted both older IR-1 centrifuges and more advanced IR-6 machines, and was estimated to have 100–200 nuclear engineers, technicians, and support personnel, many trained at elite universities.
What about IAEA access?
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has visited Fordow several times.
Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), Iran agreed to suspend enrichment at Fordow and convert the facility to a research centre. The IAEA installed surveillance equipment, and inspectors visited regularly.
But in 2019, Iran resumed enrichment at the site in response to the US withdrawal from the JCPoA. Since 2023, Iran has reduced IAEA access, and in 2024 expelled several senior inspectors.
Do the US strikes risk a radiation leak?
Pete Bryant, honorary professor in physics at the University of Liverpool, told The National that Fordow is a uranium enrichment facility, not a nuclear power plant, and therefore cannot experience a nuclear meltdown of the kind seen at Fukushima in Japan or Chernobyl in Soviet Ukraine.
“It's important to distinguish between nuclear power plants and uranium enrichment facilities, as they are fundamentally different in function, design, and risk,” he said.
“Chernobyl and Fukushima were full-scale nuclear reactor incidents under very specific, high-risk conditions. Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities are not reactors, do not have comparable inventories of radioactive material, and cannot experience similar failures.”
Iran’s Nuclear Safety System Centre said “no nuclear contamination” was detected around nuclear sites following US attacks.
Race card
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
9.50pm: Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
9.25pm: Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
More from Aya Iskandarani
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Rally schedule:
Saturday: Super Special Spectator Stage – Yas Marina Circuit – start 3.30pm.
Sunday: Yas Marina Circuit Stage 1 (276.01km)
Monday: Nissan Stage 2 (287.92km)
Tuesday: Al Ain Water Stage 3 (281.38km)
Wednesday: ADNOC Stage 4 (244.49km)
Thursday: Abu Dhabi Aviation Stage 5 (218.57km) Finish: Yas Marina Circuit – 4.30pm.
Company%C2%A0profile
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Britain's travel restrictions
- A negative test 2 days before flying
- Complete passenger locator form
- Book a post-arrival PCR test
- Double-vaccinated must self-isolate
- 11 countries on red list quarantine
UAE rugby season
FIXTURES
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers v Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Division 1
Dubai Sharks v Dubai Hurricanes II
Al Ain Amblers v Dubai Knights Eagles II
Dubai Tigers II v Abu Dhabi Saracens
Jebel Ali Dragons II v Abu Dhabi Harlequins II
Sharjah Wanderers v Dubai Exiles II
LAST SEASON
West Asia Premiership
Winners – Bahrain
Runners-up – Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership
Winners – Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners-up – Jebel Ali Dragons
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners – Dubai Hurricanes
Runners-up – Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Conference
Winners – Dubai Tigers
Runners-up – Al Ain Amblers
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
PRISCILLA
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Scoreline
Arsenal 3
Aubameyang (28'), Welbeck (38', 81')
Red cards: El Neny (90' 3)
Southampton 2
Long (17'), Austin (73')
Red cards: Stephens (90' 2)
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
