Iran appeared to know U.S. airstrikes were on the way and moved trucks and equipment around one of its most sensitive nuclear sites days before the bombs fell, according to new satellite images.
Satellite firm Maxar says images taken Thursday and Friday show “unusual truck and vehicular activity” near the entrance of the Fordow enrichment facility, a heavily fortified site buried deep in a mountain south of Tehran. On Thursday, 16 trucks were seen heading toward the tunnel entrance. By Friday, most had shifted about a kilometer away. Bulldozers and new trucks also showed up close to the entrance.
These movements happened just before the U.S. launched a major military strike on Saturday targeting three nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Iranian state media later confirmed that key sites had been “evacuated” and enriched uranium had been moved “to a safe location” before the attacks. It’s unclear how much material, if any, remained at Fordow during the strikes.
President Donald Trump, who announced the strikes Saturday evening, called them a “spectacular military success” and said, “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
A senior U.S. official told Reuters that stealth B-2 bombers were used in the assault. Pentagon sources told CBS News that submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles hit Natanz and Isfahan. At Fordow, six 30,000-pound GBU-57B “bunker buster” bombs were dropped, according to Fox News host Sean Hannity, citing a conversation with Trump.
“A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
But Iran pushed back on claims of total destruction.
“What was hit was mostly on the ground and fully restorable,” said Manan Raeisi, an Iranian lawmaker from Qom, near the Fordow site. “Trump’s bluff about destroying Fordow is laughable.”
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog told the BBC that Iran’s nuclear program “has been hit substantially” but didn’t offer details.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it found no signs of increased radiation after the attacks, suggesting that no nuclear material was hit. Still, the strikes mark a dangerous new chapter in the conflict.
Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign comes after nearly two years of Israeli bombardment in Gaza. Israel hit Iranian military and nuclear sites on June 12, claiming Iran was working on a bomb—an accusation both Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog have rejected.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the U.S. attack “outrageous” and warned of “everlasting consequences.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the strike: “This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge—and a direct threat to international peace and security.”
Trump warned Iran not to retaliate. “Any response from Iran will bring fresh American attacks GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT,” he said.
