Bunker-Busters at Natanz

On Day 22 (March 21), US forces struck Iran's Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant in Isfahan Province with multiple GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — the most powerful conventional bunker-busters in the US arsenal, each weighing 30,000 lbs. Iran and the IAEA both confirmed the strike; the IDF explicitly denied involvement, marking this as a US-only unilateral operation against Iran's primary uranium enrichment infrastructure. No radiation leak was detected and the IAEA chief called for immediate restraint. The strike follows the Trump administration's stated goal of destroying Iran's nuclear materials rather than seizing them.

Key facts

• •Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant houses Iran's primary uranium enrichment centrifuge cascades
• •US used GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — 30,000 lb bunker-busters designed for hardened underground facilities
• •IDF explicitly denied involvement — this was a US-only strike
• •Iran and IAEA both confirmed the hit; no radiation leak detected
• •IAEA Director General called for immediate restraint from all parties
• •Aligns with Trump admin goal of destroying — not seizing — Iran's nuclear materials