It happened a few hours ago and the American media are taking it on their covers. Trump and Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke on the phone. It is not clear what they said, but the call occurred while the president has been considering a distant option: that the United States directly intervenes in Israel’s efforts to damage Iran’s nuclear capacity. In the background, an idea that was intuited from the beginning of the conflict: the only way to get to Fordow was through Washington.
A key decision. On a day that could define the rest of his presidency, Trump faces one of the most transcendental decisions of his mandate: or not to the Israel War against Iran. After returning from the G7 summit in Canada, the president held a high -level meeting and talked directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, in his social networks he proclaimed that the United States had “total control of Iranian airspace,” warned Supreme Leader Ali Jameneí who was an “easy white” and demanded an “unconditional surrender”, without defining the terms.
Although until recently Trump had advocated a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program, his rhetoric and his most recent military movements (such as the deployment of naval bombers and destroyers) suggest that he is seriously considering that direct intervention.
The change of posture. The New York Times told in an extensive report how that turn to the action in Washington’s position has been brewing. Throughout the last weeks, Trump has traveled from diplomatic containment to a growing acceptance of the military road to the Iranian challenge, largely pushed by the constant pressure of the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu.
While Trump tried to keep negotiations with Tehran open (even sending a personal letter to Ayatolá Jamenei and presenting proposals for nuclear cooperation with regional participation), American intelligence began to warn that Israel planned an imminent attack against the Iranian nuclear program, with or without Washington’s support.
Israel and pressure. He explained the Times that Netanyahu, tired of years of containment by successive US presidents, seemed willing to launch a large offensive, not only on nuclear facilities, but potentially on the Iranian regime itself.
This direct threat, added to Trump’s growing skepticism regarding the Iranian will to reach a real agreement, caused an inflection: although at first he rejected deliver the antibunker bombs requested by Netanyahu, the president ended up offering support in intelligence and now values even the use of b-2 bombers and heavy armament against Fordow, the heart Underground Iranian nuclear enrichment.
Symbolic weight. It is the other leg that explains the turn of events. It is not only the product of intelligence or impatience reports to stagnant negotiations, but also of the symbolic and media weight of Israeli attacks and the role that Trump wishes to project before his base: that of a strong, decisive and protective leader of Israel’s interests.
Gathered with their advisors at Camp David, the media have told that the president discussed various options, from passivity to total involvement, and opted for an intermediate strategy that allowed him to maintain a certain political distance while offering operational support. However, as Israel obtained tactical victories (including the murder of Iranian military leaders and the possible penetration in Natanz’s facilities), Trump began to change his public position, hinting at a more active role in the United States in the campaign.
The goal. Because the key, again, is in Fordow, the Iranian uranium enrichment center excavated under a mountain, a fortress that could only be destroyed by a name: the gigantic GBU-57 bombs, which only the B-2 can launch. The possibility of attacking with this arsenal, added to the perception that Israel cannot destroy underground installation without US support, feeds the sensation of imminence.
MOP underground at White Sands Missile Range before his first explosion test in 2007
The bomb that drills mountains. Thus, and in the midst of a conflict that does nothing but grow, the potential role of the United States in an air operation against Iranian nuclear facilities brings to stage one of the most feared and less used artifacts of the American arsenal: the GBU-57A/B massive ordnance penetrator (MOP), a 13,600 kilos pump designed to do precisely what its name is. Earth and destroy underground fortifications.
Unlike conventional mass dispersion pumps, MOP is a precision weapon, not saturation. Its forged steel structure and its guide per GPS allow it to excavate up to 60 meters in solid rock (or even more, after years of unleashed improvements) before triggering in the heart of bunkers, tunnels or underground laboratories designed to resist the apocalypse.
It is not the volume. Although it is the most nuclear explosive of the American military inventory, its effectiveness does not depend on the destructive volume, but on its surgical capacity to eliminate what is beyond the reach of any other bomb. Despite its devastating potential, it has never been used in combat, but its deployment is contemplated only for missions that alter the global strategic balance.
B-2’s first public flight in 1989
Lot 19 B-2. And here appears the other fundamental leg of the strategy of this deterrent pump. The MOP cannot be launched from any aircraft. Only the B-2 Spirit, the stealthy strategic bomber of the United States Air Force has the structural and technological capacity to load it and deliver it to the target. With just 19 operational units (a good part parked on Diego García Island), the B-2 is not a bomber: it is a platform designed to go far, avoid radars and attack in depth, literally.
In the past, these devices have flown round -trip missions from more than 30 hours from Misuri to Libya or Kosovo, without scales except for the air. Plus: Recent updates to the MOP system have sought to improve the integration between bomb and plane, in addition to improving the capacity of the smart spolet to detect structural “empty” (floors, cameras, tunnels) and exploit exactly at the most vulnerable point.
Designed combination. Technology would be key in repeated attacks against the same underground objective, although it is not clear if it has already been operational. The B-2 and the MOP form a combination designed not for conventional wars, but to eliminate strongly defended and difficult strategic facilities. And here the underground installation of Fordow, as we count a few days ago, is key.
The armored jewel. Excavated inside a mountain southwest of Tehran, Fordow is protected by layers of up to 90 meters of rock, with armored doors and reinforced tunnels, according to UN observers. Although officially designed to enrich Uranium at 20 %, recent inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) reveal that Iran has intensified there the production of uranium at 60 %, very close to the threshold of 90 %necessary for nuclear weapons.
It is known that Israel has tried to hit the core of its most protected infrastructure, but with very little success. The lack of access to weapons such as MOP makes it clear that only the United States has the technical capacity to hit such structures, which reinforces the debate on a possible American direct participation in a future phase of the conflict.
Irreversible consequences. In summary, the viability of an American attack on Fordow seems increasingly linked not only to tactical movements, but also a political decision of enormous draft. Hit the underground installation is not simply destroying centrifuging: it is demolishing the Tehran nuclear resistance symbol and sending a message on a global scale. However, it is also to cross a non -return line.
Although the United States has armament, technology and logistics to execute it, what is at stake goes beyond the military: it is Washington’s credibility against allies and adversaries, regional balance, and the ability to contain an escalation that could drag the world to a broader confrontation. Meanwhile, the presence of the B-2 in Diego García and the stealthy transit of cisterns in the heavens of the east keep the possibility alive.
The world observes, with the look fixed on a mountain south of Tehran.
Imagen | U.S. Air Force, Father Goose, USAF
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