On the night of June 12/13, 2025, Israel initiated a large-scale military attack on Iran’s nuclear program under the name “Operation Rising Lion.” Israel’s primary targets reportedly included defensive sites, key personnel, missile and air force sites, and preventative strikes on retaliation capabilities.
Other than the Natanz enrichment site, key nuclear facilities do not appear to have been targeted on Day One. In fact, nuclear sites in general were not targeted. The priority seemed to be to attack those targets and individuals that require surprise to succeed, figuring that the nuclear sites will be there tomorrow. The one exception is the fate of the 20 and 60 percent enriched uranium stocks; and nothing could be learned about these stocks.
This report focuses exclusively on the nuclear facilities targeted on the first night of the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the stated goal of the operation is “to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival” and states that the operation will “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.” 1 As such,
this report will be updated as needed. Netanyahu further stated that Israel “struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, at the heart of Iran’s weaponization program, targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz, targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb, and struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program.”
Natanz Site
As of noon EST, June 13th, evidence is available that Israel targeted facilities located at the Natanz nuclear complex. Satellite imagery as well as ground imagery support that multiple above ground facilities were destroyed, apparently with the goal to render the site unusable by taking out the electrical supply in a first strike.
The Institute has obtained high-resolution satellite imagery of Natanz taken after Israel’s attack. The imagery shows extensive damage to the electrical power supply for the complex, including the main outdoor transformer substation, a concealed transformer substation, and two backup gas turbine generators, with smoke still rising when the image was taken around 11 AM local time. The above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) was also destroyed (see Figure 1 - 4).
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