CAN THE PROGRAMME BE DESTROYED?
While “Israel can damage Iran’s nuclear programme … it is unlikely to be able to destroy it”, Vaez said, arguing that Israel does not have the massively powerful bombs needed “to destroy the fortified, bunkered facilities in Natanz and Fordow”.
Destroying those would require US military assistance, added Kelsey Davenport, an expert with the Arms Control Association.
She also stressed that Israel’s unprecedented attack cannot erase the expertise Iran had built up on nuclear weapons, despite killing nine Iranian nuclear scientists.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS TO THE IRANIAN POPULATION?
The IAEA has not detected any increase in radiation levels at the affected sites.
“There is very little risk that attacks on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities would result in a harmful radiation release,” said Davenport.
But an attack on Bushehr, Iran’s only nuclear power plant, could “have a serious impact on health and the environment”, she added.
After Israel launched its strikes, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that nuclear facilities “must never be attacked” and that targeting Iranian sites could have “grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond”.
