US officials have disclosed that initial battle damage assessments indicate that the Israeli strikes on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility were extremely effective and went far beyond superficial damage to exterior structures, knocking out the electricity on the lower levels where the centrifuges used to enrich uranium are stored.
“This was a full-spectrum blitz,” said another source familiar with early damage assessments, who said that the Israeli attack on the facility also appears to have included cyber elements.
It’s not clear if cyber elements or the kinetic strikes caused the electricity outage.
Natanz, the facility at the heart of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, was engulfed in flames on Friday, according to social media images geolocated by CNN and Iranian state television coverage.
The nuclear complex, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital Tehran, is considered Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facility. Analysts say the site is used to develop and assemble centrifuges for uranium enrichment, a key technology that turns uranium into nuclear fuel.
CNN