Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant

Natanz is Iran's primary uranium enrichment complex in Isfahan Province, comprising a surface Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), a Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), and underground halls buried under 8 metres of reinforced concrete and 22 metres of earth. The surface facilities were destroyed by Israeli strikes during Operation Rising Lion on 13 June 2025, and the underground cascade halls were struck by two GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators during Operation Midnight Hammer on 22 June 2025, which the Institute for Science and International Security assessed as likely having reached the enrichment hall itself. A February 2026 operation (Roaring Lion / Epic Fury) added access-denial strikes to already-ruined entrances. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on 13 April 2026 that Iran cannot currently enrich uranium at any facility.

The facility has been rebuilt before. Israeli sabotage operations in 2020 and 2021 destroyed advanced centrifuges, and new underground halls were constructed to reduce aerial vulnerability. Before the June 2025 strikes, the underground halls housed approximately 5,000 centrifuges enriching uranium to 60% purity. Iran holds roughly 440.9 kg of 60%-enriched uranium across its facilities, enough for approximately ten weapons if further enriched to 90%. The IAEA Board formally declared a loss of continuity of knowledge over the stockpile on 4 June 2026 after 97 days without inspector access; the stockpile's location is assessed by satellite imagery as likely remaining at Isfahan's underground vault. Haaretz reported on 18 May 2026, citing a former senior Israeli intelligence official, that underground enrichment infrastructure remains largely operational and that Tehran may now consider nuclear weapons the only reliable deterrent.

Natanz remains the centrepiece of the nuclear negotiations. Iran insists any enriched uranium will be diluted inside Iranian territory; the Islamabad MOU signed 15 June 2026 committed Iran to destroying the 440.9 kg stockpile under IAEA supervision by a mechanism still to be agreed. On 23 June, Trump claimed Iran had agreed to highest-level nuclear inspections; Iran's foreign ministry denied any arrangement existed within hours, and IAEA Director General Grossi said inspections would happen but named no date. Bombed sites including Natanz remain closed to inspectors.