Stealth aircraft and 30,000-pound bombs: Why destroying Iran's nuclear program is a such a difficult feat

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran is staring down the anticipation of seeing its astir important atomic facilities deed by a 30,000-pound American bomb.

White House officials connected Tuesday told NBC News that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a scope of options including striking Iran directly, aft the American person repeatedly asserted that his medication would not let Iran to proceed its atomic programme oregon scope bomb-making capability.

Trump called for Iran's "unconditional surrender" and wrote successful a station connected Truth Social that the U.S. has the quality to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

"He is an casual target, but is harmless determination - We are not going to instrumentality him retired (kill!), astatine slightest not for now," Trump wrote soon aft declaring "total control" implicit Iranian airspace.

The rapidly escalating conflict, triggered by Israel's astonishment attacks connected Iranian subject and atomic facilities connected June 13, has sent lipid prices surging and enactment a portion connected edge. Initially encouraging of diplomatic talks with Tehran, Trump's statements person go progressively threatening arsenic populations crossed the Middle East brace for what comes next. 

But destroying Iran's atomic programme — which Tehran asserts is for civilian vigor purposes lone — is nary casual feat.

Iran's astir precocious and hardened atomic facility, the Fordow works successful the country's northwest, is simply a fortress. 

Built wrong a upland immoderate 300 feet underground and reinforced by layers of concrete, the works — which is the astir apt people of a imaginable American onslaught — is impenetrable by immoderate weaponry but the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). The U.S. is the lone state successful the satellite that has this "bunker buster" weapon, arsenic good arsenic the lone state with the craft susceptible of transporting and deploying it: the B2 Spirit stealth bomber. 

This is successful portion wherefore Israel has been truthful anxious for U.S. engagement successful its violative operations against Iran successful summation to its antiaircraft ones.

But a onslaught successful itself would not beryllium a one-and-done job, subject experts say.

"So you person 2 challenges. You would person to driblet 2 of these penetrators astatine the nonstop aforesaid site" and apt request aggregate bombing rounds, according to David Des Roches, a prof and elder subject chap astatine the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies astatine the National Defense University successful Washington, D.C. 

"And past you would ne'er beryllium precisely definite however overmuch of the installation you've damaged," helium added, meaning unit whitethorn request to beryllium deployed connected the ground. 

"This leads maine to judge that for those facilities, Israel volition yet summation power of the aerial and past onshore forces connected the ground, unit their mode into the installation by detonating the doors, and past spell and spot explosive charges, exfiltrate immoderate quality they tin get, and conscionable detonate it from the inside," Des Roches told CNBC.

Iran's subject capabilities person been severely degraded implicit the past fewer days by Israeli attacks, which person taken retired important parts of its aerial defenses, ballistic rocket batteries, command-and-control nodes, and dozens of apical commanders.  

Still, specified a onslaught by the U.S. could trigger Iran to respond by striking astatine U.S. assets successful the portion similar embassies and subject bases. Trump has made wide that immoderate onslaught connected U.S. unit would gully a fierce American response, which would past propulsion the world's astir almighty subject much profoundly into a determination conflict. 

"The Iranians person signaled that they are acceptable to onslaught U.S. bases successful the portion successful the lawsuit of a U.S. onslaught connected their home soil," said Gregory Brew, elder expert connected Iran and vigor astatine hazard consultancy Eurasia Group, noting that American bases successful Iraq are peculiarly vulnerable. 

"There are risks successful that situation that an Iranian retaliation causes U.S. casualties, kills U.S. servicemen, and perchance compels President Trump to grow the scope of U.S. enactment and bid further strikes connected Iran and that, of course, would endanger wide escalation and resistance america into not conscionable a azygous operation, but perchance a protracted aerial campaign." 

Despite its tremendous scale, the GPU-57 bunker buster would not make wide-scale harm beyond the country of the facility, Des Roches said. But it would person a "profound intelligence effect connected the Iranians," helium added, who person already seen important harm and radioactive contamination hazard wrought to the infrastructure of respective of its atomic sites successful different parts of the country. 

A further captious question remains whether the Trump medication volition bounds itself to targeting atomic sites, oregon whether it volition grow operations beyond that — thing Israel's authorities has besides been urging, arsenic it conveys its tendency to spot authorities alteration for its longtime adversary.

"I deliberation the struggle volition extremity erstwhile Israel is assured that Iran has lost, for a important play of time, the quality to marque a atomic weapon, and that its defenses are weakened capable that Israel volition beryllium capable to spell backmost and efficaciously disrupt immoderate further effort by Iran to marque a atomic weapon," Des Roches argued.  

If Fordow remains operational, Israel's attacks would hardly dilatory Iran's quality to physique a bomb, atomic analysts say. The decisions from the While House successful the coming days volition truthful beryllium decisive not lone for the trajectory of Iran's atomic program, but for the survivability of the Islamic Republic's authorities arsenic a whole.

Ali Vaez, Iran task manager astatine non-profit Crisis Group, believes that "Iran tin past and rebuild its atomic program," adjacent without a diplomatic avenue for a woody with the U.S. 

"The U.S. entering the warfare volition adjacent the doorway connected diplomacy," Vaez told CNBC. "Trump mightiness beryllium capable to destruct Fordow, but helium won't beryllium capable to weaponry distant the cognition that Iran has already acquired."