President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would consider striking Iran's underground Fordo nuclear facility if necessary to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, according to Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, The Times of Israel reported.
Ravid, citing Israeli officials, said Trump relayed this position to Netanyahu during several recent phone calls. The Fordo site, buried deep underground near the Iranian city of Qom, is believed to be difficult for Israel's military to effectively destroy without American support.
"The Fordo facility may be beyond Israel's military capabilities to destroy without outside assistance," Ravid said, noting the strategic dilemma for Jerusalem as it intensifies a new campaign against Iranian military and nuclear targets.
However, Ravid emphasized that the White House has denied any active planning for a strike, stating that now is not the right time to attack Iran. "The White House has officially denied that Trump is considering a US strike," Ravid reported, citing American officials.
Despite the denial, the issue is expected to remain central in the coming weeks as Israel escalates its pressure on Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Ravid said that if Israeli airstrikes fail to destroy Fordo, the Islamic Republic may be able to consolidate and safeguard its entire nuclear program at the site.
"If Fordo survives Israeli airstrikes, Iran's nuclear infrastructure will remain intact," Ravid warned. "Tehran could even relocate the rest of its nuclear program to the facility, placing it beyond Israel's reach and accelerating its path to a nuclear weapon."
Iran confirmed that the Fordo complex sustained limited damage from the recent Israeli aerial assaults, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. The report did not elaborate on the extent of the destruction or specify whether Iran planned to reinforce or relocate operations there.
The Fordo site, once a secret location revealed by Western intelligence agencies in 2009, has since been central to international efforts to monitor and constrain Iran's nuclear activities. Its heavily fortified construction — embedded within a mountain — has long been a concern for Western and Israeli defense planners.
The Biden administration previously emphasized diplomacy as the preferred route to limit Iran's nuclear capabilities, but under Trump, the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement and reimposed heavy sanctions on Tehran.
The purported conversation between Trump and Netanyahu comes at a time of heightened regional tension, with Israel targeting multiple Iranian facilities and escalating rhetoric from Iranian officials warning against further military action.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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