Explosions were heard in the city of Natanz, located in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, which is home to one of the country’s main nuclear facilities, according to Iranian state television
“Loud explosions were heard in Natanz,” state television reported. Natanz is known for being home to one of Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facilities.
Iran has two underground nuclear sites, at Fordo and Natanz, and has been building tunnels in the mountains near Natanz since strikes, allegedly carried out by Israel, damaged the site.
The Natanz facility is central to Iran’s uranium enrichment program and is located on a plain surrounded by mountains near the Shiite holy city of Qom, south of Tehran. The complex includes two enrichment plants: the large Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), which is underground, and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), which is above ground.
In 2002, an exiled Iranian opposition group revealed that Iran was secretly building Natanz, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Iran and Western countries over the intentions of Iran’s nuclear program.
BREAKING NEWS ?
? Ricardo Sérvulo (@RicardoServulo) June 13, 2025
First videos from this Thursday 6/12, confirm that the Natanz Nuclear Power Plant – in Iran was hit, after strategic airstrikes by Israel pic.twitter.com/9aLINYk5hq
The FEP was designed to enrich uranium on a large scale and can house up to 50,000 centrifuges (equipment used to enrich uranium). Currently, around 14,000 centrifuges are installed there, with approximately 11,000 in operation, producing enriched uranium with up to 5% purity.
Diplomats familiar with Natanz say the PEF is located about three stories underground, raising questions about how much damage airstrikes like those attributed to Israel could do. In the past, PEF’s centrifuges have been damaged by other means, including an explosion and power outage in April 2021 that Iran has said were Israeli strikes.
The PEF, which is above ground, has only a few hundred centrifuges, but Iran is enriching uranium there to up to 60 percent purity. To put it simply: Natanz is a city in Iran that is home to a facility critical to the country’s nuclear program that is used to enrich uranium, a material that can be used in nuclear power or weapons. Explosions have been heard in the city, according to Iranian state TV. The site has two plants: a very large underground plant and a smaller one above ground. Iran has suffered attacks in the past, which it believes were carried out by Israel, and this has led to tensions with other countries. The underground facility is unlikely to be damaged by air strikes, but there have been problems caused by explosions and power failures.
Published in 06/13/2025 03h41
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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