Israel's Operation Rising Lion: A Look Inside Iran's Key Nuclear Sites

In pre-dawn strikes termed Operation Rising Lion, dozens of Israeli jets launched a sweeping aerial assault across Iranian territory on Friday, hitting multiple high-value nuclear and military targets. Chief among them was Iran's principal uranium enrichment site at Natanz, where black smoke was seen billowing into the air hours after the first wave of airstrikes.

In a sudden escalation of hostilities between the two countries, Iranian state television later confirmed the death of Major General Hossein Salami, chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in what it called "a direct assassination by Zionist forces." 

He had served as the public face of Iran's military strategy and was seen as the strategist of its proxy warfare policy, particularly in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Iranian state television further reported the deaths of another senior IRGC commander, whose name has not been released, and two prominent nuclear scientists linked to Iran's uranium enrichment programme. 

The Iranian government has declared a state of national mourning. 

Strike On Iran's Nuclear Core

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit multiple sensitive locations across Iran. Chief among these was the sprawling Natanz complex, spread across roughly 100,000 square metres in Isfahan province and partially buried beneath the desert plains of central Iran. Natanz is home to thousands of centrifuges and has long been at the centre of Western and Israeli concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

While the extent of the damage at Natanz remains unclear, early images broadcast briefly by Iranian state media and dozens of open-source intelligence reports showed fires near the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP). The below-ground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), which is three stories deep, is considered more resistant to conventional airstrikes. Yet analysts say even limited surface damage could disrupt operations in Iran's most fortified nuclear installation.

This marks the most direct Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure since the Stuxnet cyberattack over a decade ago. 

READ | How CIA, Mossad Used A Computer Virus To Dismantle Iran's Nuclear Program

Iran's Nuclear Infrastructure

According to reports, over the past five years, Iran has steadily accelerated its uranium enrichment programme, shortening the time it would take to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon. This "breakout time", the period needed to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels sufficient for one nuclear device, reportedly shrunk to just a few weeks, according to a Reuters report from 2024. Under the terms of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that timeframe was estimated at over a year.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that Iran possesses enough 60 per cent enriched uranium, if enriched further to 90 per cent, to manufacture nearly four nuclear warheads. Tehran maintains that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes.

Other Nuclear Facilities

Fordow 

While Natanz remains the most significant site in Iran's nuclear architecture, Fordow, located in the city of Qom, south of Tehran is its most fortified.  

Built covertly and revealed in 2009 by the United States, Britain, and France, Fordow is dug deep into a mountain, offering protection against aerial or missile strikes. Then-US President Barack Obama declared the facility's size and structure to be "inconsistent with a peaceful nuclear programme."

Originally prohibited from enrichment activity under the JCPOA, Fordow hosts more than 1,000 centrifuges, including a growing number of IR-6 advanced centrifuges, some of which are enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity, as per US and international media reports. 

In 2024, Iran doubled the number of centrifuges installed at the site, all of them IR-6s, enhancing its capacity to quickly escalate to weapons-grade enrichment levels if it chooses. 

Isfahan

Isfahan is a multi-purpose nuclear complex located in the outskirts of Isfahan in central Iran. The Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) here is where yellowcake uranium is processed into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), the gaseous form used in centrifuges for enrichment. 

Khondab

Khondab is located near the city of Arak in western Iran. Originally known as the Arak Heavy Water Reactor, the Khondab facility has potential to produce plutonium, another pathway to a nuclear bomb.

Under the JCPOA, construction was halted, and the original core was removed and rendered inoperable with concrete. The reactor was slated for a redesign intended to minimise plutonium output and make it unusable for weapons purposes.

Tehran Research Reactor 

The capital's research reactor is primarily used for academic and medical purposes. The reactor, supplied by the United States in the 1960s, uses fuel that Iran has enriched domestically in recent years.

Although not designed for weapons-grade production, the research centre also serves as a training ground for Iranian nuclear scientists and engineers.

Bushehr

Located in southern Iran, on the Persian Gulf coast, Bushehr is Iran's only operational civilian nuclear power plant. Constructed with Russian assistance, the facility is powered by Russian-supplied fuel, which is returned to Russia after use.

Tehran Under Fire

Residents of Tehran woke to the sound of explosions and air raid sirens in the early hours of Friday morning. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the western district of Chitgar, although there are no publicly known nuclear facilities in that area. 

Hours later, the Iranian Civil Aviation Authority announced the closure of the country's airspace. Israel also declared a full airspace lockdown and heightened emergency readiness along its northern and southern borders.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz released a statement confirming Israeli responsibility for the attack, noting: "Following the State of Israel's preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future."