THIS is the dramatic moment Israel blows up one of Iran’s nuclear reactors with a surgical missile strike.
Another plant, the infamous “Mount Doom” at Fordow, remains untouched, but could soon face the US’s mighty bunker busting bombs if Trump says the word.
Footage shows the heavy water reactor – known as Arak but renamed Khondab – lying in night-vision cross hairs during the sixth night of heavy missile exchange.
A missile darts in from above and strikes right at the heart of the sprawling plant.
Smoke and flames erupt from the impact site and envelop the whole facility in a huge cloud.
The site was “inactive” as it was yet to be completed, but the IDF insisted it had to be taken out because it was designed to cultivate plutonium for use in nuclear weapons.
The military said: “The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”
High-yield plutonium is a material that can be used to fashion nuclear weapons.
Iranian media reported that air defences were activated in the area and that projectiles landed in the vicinity.
Officials told state TV that the site was evacuated and there was no casualties or risk of radiation.
Alongside Arak, Israel has confirmed strikes on the reactors at Natanz and Isfahan.
An IDF spokesperson later said that fighter jets had also struck the Bushehr nuclear power plant – which is the only working one in the country.
But in a U-turn, the IDF then retracted the claim, with a spokesperson saying: “It was a mistake,” and that he could not confirm nor deny that the facility had been targeted.
The head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation warned that an Israeli attack on Bushehr could lead to a “Chornobyl-style catastrophe”.
Iran has reported Israel to the the UN’s nuclear watchdog over the strikes against its nuclear sites.
The regime accused Israel of “continuing its aggression and actions contrary to international laws that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities”.
After days of speculation, Trump approved plans to attack Iran but is holding off in case Tehran agrees to abandon its nuclear programme, reports the Wall Street Journal.
If given the go-ahead, the plans would see the US join Israel in pounding Iran‘s nuke sites – which Tehran has warned would spark “all out war”.
The UK is yet to declare whether it would stand with the US if it committed, as Attorney General Lord Hermer questions the legality of Israel’s action, according to Sky, and Starmer held a Cobra meeting.
Trump still refuses to confirm his plans in public, however: “I may do it, I may not do it,” he said on Wednesday.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minster, Kazem Gharibabadi, hit back: “If the US wants to actively intervene in support of Israel, Iran will have no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson and defend itself.”
Iran’s Fordow nuclear development plant is likely to be the prime target of any imminent US airstrikes.
Israel doesn’t have the weapons to strike the core of the mountain fortress site, but the US has a fearsome 15-ton mega bomb, known as a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb, which could bust it open.
Trump acknowledged the US is the only nation capable of blitzing the key nuke site, but added: “That doesn’t mean I’m going to do it – at all.”
The giant plant, 125 miles south of capital Tehran is encased in steel more than 300 feet beneath solid rock and has so far escaped serious damage.
Defence Analyst Paul Beaver told The Sun: “Israel will need literally to move a mountain to hit the plant.
“It’s protected by at least 90 metres of solid rock and has so far escaped serious damage.
“Options are to repeatedly bomb it for weeks until a breakthrough is achieved or a fultline is hit or launch an extremely risky ground offensive.
“But the Israeli military never ceases to amaze – and they may even have troops on the ground waiting to attack Fordow already.”
