WASHINGTON: Israel and the US prioritized the degradation of Iran’s nuclear weaponization abilities during Operation Roaring Lion and Operation Epic Fury over the targeting of nuclear enrichment sites, an Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) analysis of satellite imagery revealed on Thursday.
According to the analysis, little new damage was dealt to Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities already destroyed in strikes carried out during the 12-day war in June of 2025.
Instead, facilities and infrastructure related to the weaponization of enriched uranium, such as development sites, were targeted.
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One such target analyzed by the institute was the Min Zadai site, which is suspected to have played a key role in Iran’s attempts to recover nuclear weapons capabilities after the June 2025 strikes.
On March 3, the IDF announced strikes on the complex, describing the site as a partially underground “nuclear headquarters” where nuclear scientists were developing key components for nuclear weapons systems.
A symbolic mockup of an Iranian missile is displayed, amid a ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026.
A symbolic mockup of an Iranian missile is displayed, amid a ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS)
Reporting by the French newspaper Le Monde suggested that the Min Zadai complex was involved in the metallurgy of nuclear weapons cores.
Another such site is Taleghan 2, a highly fortified facility within Iran’s Parchin military complex that has been used in Iran’s nuclear weapons testing and development of advanced explosives.
Weaponization-tied Tehran universities targeted
Universities with connections to Iran’s development of nuclear weapons were also targeted.
Tehran’s Malek Ashtar University, which the IDF directly tied to nuclear weaponization, and an adjacent laboratory-type building connected to the university by a footbridge, were heavily damaged in strikes.
The university-adjacent laboratory was built right next to the Mojdeh site, a nuclear site destroyed by Israeli strikes in June 2025.
Imam Hussein University, a key Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) university, was struck on March 10 for hosting an underground weapons research and development complex used by the IRGC for experimentation and testing related to ballistic missiles.
In addition to at least four sites specifically tied to nuclear weaponization by the IDF, the ISIS analysis identified three other targeted sites likely to have also been used in the development of nuclear weapons.
The destruction of key weaponization sites, according to the institute, likely significantly increased the time it would take for Iran to complete the production of nuclear weapons.
