Nicole Grajewski
Operation Midnight Hammer represented an extraordinary demonstration of American military capabilities. Seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers targeted Iran’s nuclear installations at Fordow and Natanz with fourteen 30,000-pound bombs while a guided missile submarine simultaneously launched more than two dozen cruise missiles at Isfahan,
Iran’s largest nuclear research complex. The strikes penetrated Iran’s most protected facilities, though preliminary intelligence assessments suggest the impact may have fallen short of the White House’s claims of “total obliteration.”
The fundamental limitation of the strikes lies in the distinction between infrastructure damage and capability elimination. Military action can destroy equipment and facilities, but it cannot eliminate knowledge, dispersed materials,
or the underlying strategic drivers of nuclear weapons development. By reportedly relocating its most sensitive materials ahead of the strikes, Iran appears to have safeguarded the core of its enrichment program, while intact bunkers may still provide a springboard for reconstruction.
Whether Operation Midnight Hammer effectively curbs the proliferation threat from Iran hinges on two interlinked factors: Tehran’s domestic political resolve to curb any weapons-development trajectory and the ability of diplomatic efforts to reestablish rigorous safeguards backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Absent both, the strike’s tactical effectiveness will lead to little more than a temporary pause—delaying rather than preventing the next confrontation over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
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