Construction on the facility started in 2006, but the existence of the enrichment plant was only disclosed to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by Iran on 21 September 2009, after the site became known to Western intelligence services. Western officials strongly condemned Iran for not disclosing the site earlier; U.S. president
Barack Obama said that Fordow had been under U.S. surveillance. Iran argues that this disclosure was consistent with its legal obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, which Iran claims requires Iran to declare new facilities 180 days before they receive nuclear material. The IAEA stated that Iran was bound by its agreement in 2003 to declare the facility as soon as Iran decided to construct it. Iranian authorities state the facility is built deep in a mountain because of repeated threats by
Israel to attack such facilities, which Israel believes can be used to produce
nuclear weapons. Attacking a nuclear facility so close to the city of
Qom, which is considered holy among
Shia Muslims, raises concerns about a potential
Shia religious response. In November 2013, hundreds of Iranians, mostly students of
Sharif University of Technology, accompanied by the head of AEOI,
Ali Akbar Salehi, and several
Majles (parliament) representatives formed a human chain around the Fordow uranium enrichment facility. The students were there to show their support for the Iranian nuclear program. Under the 2015
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Fordow was to stop researching and enriching uranium for at least 15 years. The facility was to be converted into a nuclear physics and technology center. For 15 years, Fordow would maintain no more than 1,044 IR-1 centrifuges in six cascades in one wing. Two of the six cascades would be transitioned for stable isotope production for medical, agricultural, industrial, and scientific use. The other four would remain idle. Iran agreed to keep no
fissile material there. In 2016, Iran stationed anti-aircraft
S-300 missile systems at the site. The uranium enrichment infrastructure at Fordow was attacked by
Stuxnet and related
cyberweapons. On 1 February 2023, the IAEA "criticised Iran ... for making an undeclared change to the interconnection between the two clusters of advanced machines enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to weapons grade, at its Fordow plant."
2025 Israeli and American airstrikes On 13 June 2025, Israel attacked the plant as part of the
June 2025 Israeli strikes on Iran. Iranian forces said they had shot down an Israeli drone. The extent of the damage was unclear because Fordow nuclear facility, like the Natanz facility, is buried deep underground. Satellite imagery and reports suggested that some above-ground sites at Fordow and Natanz were damaged, but the subterranean facilities that house centrifuges and enriched uranium were not breached. Following the Israeli strike, the US was said to be considering striking the site, which would require the use of the
GBU-57A/B MOP. On 21 June 2025, American president
Donald Trump announced that U.S.
B-2 bombers had
also struck the nuclear facility in Fordow as well as those in Natanz and
Isfahan. In an address from the White House, Trump claimed the facilities' destruction stating "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." On 24 June
The New York Times and CNN reported that a preliminary battle damage assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency had concluded with low confidence that the U.S. strikes had set back Iran's nuclear program by a matter of months. The same day, however, Institute for Science and International Security analysts David Albright and Spencer Faragrasso were able to confirm that facility's enrichment hall had been successfully penetrated, and likely took Fordow out of operation, noting that following the U.S. airstrikes on Fordow, satellite imagery showed "at least one penetration hole located above the buried enrichment hall caused by a GBU-57 bunker buster. It is reported by the U.S. Department of Defense that at least two GBU-57’s (MOP) attacked the site, possibly in an attack where one followed the other through the same penetration hole in a “double tap” strike. As a result, the site is likely destroyed and knocked out of operation. No damage was observed in satellite imagery of the complex being constructed underneath Mt. Kolang Gaz La." Following a classified Senate briefing on June 26th Senator Tom Cotton, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, was more definitive. He said the strikes would "protect the world from the risk of an Iranian nuclear weapon for years." On 1 July, Iran built a new access road and deployed equipment to the site following last, according to
The Wall Street Journal. However, analysts from the Institute for Science and International Security believed Iran was preparing for downhole inspections to assess damage. On 2 July, Iran's foreign minister
Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with
CBS that "No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged". On 22 July, Araghchi said in an interview with
Fox News that the American strikes had "destroyed" Iran's nuclear facilities, but insisted that the country would continue to pursue uranium enrichment as a matter of national pride. On 26 September, commenting to
Reuters for the first time about the
US attack on Fordow, IAEA chief
Rafael Grossi confirmed that "almost all sensitive equipment" at the site had been destroyed. However, he also stated that if Iran chose to further enrich their existing stockpile of uranium to 90 percent, it would only take them a few weeks to complete the process. ==Capacity ==