With concerns mounting globally over the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former defense minister, has urged the United States to carry out a targeted military strike to eliminate the final and most protected element of Iran’s nuclear program: the Fordow enrichment plant.
In a co-authored opinion piece with historian Niall Ferguson published in The Times of London, Gallant asserted that while Israel has done the bulk of the work to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions, only the United States possesses the tools necessary to eliminate the Fordow facility.
They argue that what lies before President Trump is not a drawn-out war, but a focused, tactical operation. “The US today is not being asked to send soldiers to invade or occupy Iran,” they write, emphasizing that “much of the work of defeating Iran has already been done by Israel.”
The op-ed praises recent Israeli military campaigns as a critical turning point, claiming they’ve severely disrupted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. “After decades of preparation, Israel has acted: striking critical nuclear sites, dismantling missile production lines, and eliminating senior figures in Iran’s military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.” According to the authors, these operations have “set Iran’s program back by years.”
Still, one major threat persists: the Fordow facility. Buried deep beneath the earth, it contains “eight cascades with over 3,000 centrifuges,” and, per the International Atomic Energy Agency, could enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels “just three weeks” after activation.
Gallant and Ferguson caution that allowing Fordow to remain operational gives the Iranian regime a pathway to eventually restart its nuclear pursuit. “Risks allowing the Islamic Republic to rebuild and resume its quest for the ultimate weapon of mass destruction,” they warn.
They note that Fordow’s formidable fortifications—buried under “at least 90 metres of limestone, and protected by additional layers of reinforced concrete shielding and other structural defence measures”—make it unreachable by Israeli munitions. “There is no credible way that Israel alone can destroy it,” the op-ed states.
According to the authors, only the United States has the capability to eliminate the Fordow threat. They cite the GBU 57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a powerful 30,000-pound bomb designed for hardened underground targets. “Three to eight MOPs would suffice to render Fordow defunct,” they explain, and such a strike would be carried out using American B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.
To drive home the urgency of their appeal, Gallant and Ferguson invoke a well-known ethical teaching: “If not now, when?” Directing the question to President Trump, they write, “If B-2s and MOPs were not designed for precisely this purpose, then what use are they?”
They stress that a nuclear Iran would endanger far more than just Israel. With ballistic missiles capable of reaching “Gulf capitals and Europe,” the threat could easily spiral into “a nuclear arms race in the Gulf.”
The authors conclude that taking out Fordow would “create a new equilibrium in the Middle East and re-establish American leadership.” But they insist it must come with a firm warning: “If Iran attempts to target the US or its Gulf allies, it will risk the elimination of its regime.”
Gallant and Ferguson close with a call for action, warning that the present moment offers a rare window where strategy and opportunity align. “It must not be missed.”
{Matzav.com}