The Iran - Israel war started on 13th June 2025, when Israel launched a series of attack on different targets in Iran claiming the aim was to dismantle Iran’s advancing nuclear program, which it labeled an imminent threat to regional security.[1]
Israel has given a number of justifications to its citizens for attacking Iran but not a single reason justifies its aggression as it has been targeting civilian population by attacking multiple Iranian cities. It claims that it was a preemptive strike as Iran inspire to make nuclear bomb by advancing its nuclear program. However, the sequence of events indicates that Israel launched aggressive operations against a number of government and military installations, and that the attacks were motivated by other objectives [2]
During its attacks, it has also carried out assassinations of various senior Iranian leaders including the chief of Iranian armed forces and nine Iranian nuclear scientists as well, to halt progress of Iranian nuclear program.
Even if there could be a number of reasons for the attacks, the biggest concern is the danger that the possible release of fissile material into the environment poses to humanity. In addition to a threat to regional stability, the destruction of nuclear facilities has long-term health and environmental repercussions that go beyond the battlefield.
RADIOACTIVITY SPILLOVERS OF URANIUM HEXAFLOURIDE (UF₆)
One of the most critical environmental risk during a nuclear radioactivity is the spread of Uranium Hexafluoride (UF₆) which is an extremely volatile gas. It is highly toxic and has lethal effects for human skin and if ingested, can damage lung function, respiratory track, cause cancer, affect reproductive health and can have long term effects on kidneys. [3]
When nuclear sites are attacked, there are significant chances of damage to the centrifuges, where Uranium is enriched. It can cause the release of uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) which can damage health, infrastructure and can cause local contamination.
ISRAEL IRAN WAR AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION:
Israel Iran War has raised concerns regarding the release of radioactive elements into the environment risking human life, infrastructure and long term environmental hazards. To understand the environmental damages occurred as a result of war, lets first understand the conflict in detail.
MAIN REASON BEHIND ATTACK
There were two main reasons behind Israel attacking Iran.
- REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN:
Israel wanted regime change in Iran by provoking multi ethnic groups inside Iran against Khamenei by causing instability. Because these groups find themselves under political oppression and discrimination in country. Unfortunately, it failed to achieve this objective because these groups did not turn against Iranian government during conflict.
2. DISRUPTION OF IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Israel wanted to terminate Iranian nuclear program, which according to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, is not obliterated and Israeli strikes were not able to oppose Iranian nuclear ambitions.
To justify the attack, Israel used the July 12, 2025 IAEA Report, which criticized Iran for its historical violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and mentioned the discovery of undeclared nuclear material in Iran. However, the IAEA clarified that this report did not warrant an emergency response, which contradicts Israel's claims of immediate response to an imminent threat.[4]
WHERE DID THE ATTACKS HAPPENED?
With the ambitions of hitting Iranian nuclear program, Israel attacked Iranian missile and nuclear facilities on 13th June, 2025 which created no significant damage to nuclear sites. However, US attack on Iranian Nuclear Facilities i.e. Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan have raised questions about radioactivity in the region. These Nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz cannot be damaged through conventional means and Israel was well aware of the fact that it has no ability to hit these sites buried underground so it convinced US to use its Massive Ordinance Penetrators (MOP) to reach nuclear facility as US is the only country consisting these bombs which can penetrate ground.
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND IMPACT MADE BY THE ATTACKS
IMPACT ASSESSMENT:
In order to assess the impact US has made to these nuclear facilities, it is important to evaluate whether the MOPs used by US B-2 Stealth Bomber, were able to penetrate enough into the nuclear sites or not and what environmental impacts were caused due to damages such as radiation leaks, groundwater contamination, or release of toxic chemical.[5]
FORDOW NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT SITE:
Among the three nuclear sites that were struck by US, Fordow is the most protected site. Therefore, it is difficult to destroy due to its construction of eighty to hundred meters underground, fortified with concrete so that it could be protected from any strike that is done conventionally.
Regarding damage to the Fordow nuclear site, there have been speculations about the inflicted damage by the attack. It is assumed that maybe Iran would have moved its Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to a safe place before attack to protect its fissile material and to save itself from going back in its progress towards nuclear program. And only the cascade halls, which are rooms of centrifuges, are damaged. In this scenario only the enrichment of nuclear material would have been affected, keeping the environmental impacts very low. [6]
THE GBU-57 VS FORDOW NUCLEAR FACILITY
The US bunker buster bomb weigh around 13000 kg and it can penetrate up to 18m (60 ft) of concrete and 61m (200 ft) of earth before it explodes. Whereas, Fordow nuclear enrichment facility is buried deep in mountains strategically, at about 80 meters or more. As a result, facility cannot be reached by a single MOP rather there would be need of multiple of them to penetrate near the core. This reduces the chances of the damage to the facility.
ISFAHAN AND NATANZ
Both the facilities have significantly been damaged during Israeli and US attacks where most significantly the above ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) and electrical infrastructure at Natanz has been severely damaged. It has indirectly affected the centrifuges that are buried deep. This damage to the centrifuges increases risk of nuclear contamination inside the facility and can be hazardous for the workers and personnel that may be visiting it.
As far as radioactivity at Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities is concerned, climatic condition outside the facilities is normal (no radioactive symptoms found) according to the Director of IAEA while addressing the urgent IAEA session at Vienna.[7] This indicates that there are no risks of environmental impacts. Still there are concerns regarding the internal radiation levels that are not being assessed. Therefore, it raises the risk of localized contamination and chemical hazard within the facilities. Further, Iran has called of its cooperation with IAEA and is not allowing the agency to inspect the internal conditions neither publishing any damage reports regarding Nuclear Facilities, which is further creating hurdle in assessing the condition of the damage occurred and radioactivity inside the plants.
However, the next day report of IAEA, after Israel’s attack suggests that the ground penetrating munitions would have effectively damaged the underground cascade halls at Natanz and there is a possibility that these uranium isotopes (uranium hexafluoride, uranyl fluoride and hydrogen fluoride) may have scattered inside the facility causing precarious consequences.
The US Department of Defense stated that US attack on 22nd June, with two GBU-57 penetrators, one followed the other through the same penetrating hole, had significantly damaged the site and making the operation success.[8]
STATEMENTS ABOUT THE INFLICTED DAMAGE TO THE SITES:
There are two different perspectives regarding the inflicted damage and it is very difficult to assess that which one is true and which can truly define how much environment have to suffer.
US President Donald Trump stated that during attack, Iranian nuclear sites were totally obliterated and it was a success. However, according to leaked pentagon reports, the centrifuges has been damaged to an extend that Iranian nuclear program have set back a few months only.
On the other hand, Iranian leader Khamenei denied these claims and said that Iranian nuclear program is intact and has not been damaged. He congratulated Iranian public about the victory in war with Israel. But Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi, while talking to Fox News in an interview told that serious damages have been caused to the Iranian nuclear sites after the assessment of Iranian nuclear sites by Atomic Energy organisation of Iran. He further affirms that it will not halt their enrichment process, as it has been achieved through years of efforts by Iranian nuclear scientists. This reflects strong Iranian diplomatic level of projecting internal morale and strength towards the international world.
However, magnitude of the environmental risks is still unclear as a result of these contradictory and changing statements by the leaders, especially when it comes to radioactive exposure. The likelihood of a large-scale radioactive spill would be quite low if Iran had actually moved its fissile material prior to the attacks. And if Iranian nuclear program was damaged severely there is still no transparency regarding the inflicted damage. As a result, actual environmental effects are still unknown in the absence of transparent verification.
[1] https://ceobs.org/the-emerging-environmental-consequences-of-the-israel-iran-war/#1
[2] ) https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/6/15/the-real-reason-israel-attacked-iran
[3] https://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1970.pdf
[4] https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/6/15/the-real-reason-israel-attacked-iran
[5] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o
[6] https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/what-really-happened-to-fordow-three-possible-futures-for-irans-nuclear-program-after-us-strikes/#:~:text=There%20have%20been%20conflicting%20reports,flat%2Dout%20wrong.%E2%80%9D)
[7] https://apnews.com/article/iran-nuclear-israel-radiation-natanz-a58c0e06ad30b3a8bf21159a4f54c35a
[8] https://isis-online.org/isis-reports/post-attack-assessment-of-the-first-12-days-of-israeli-strikes-on-iranian-nuclear-facilities
