Did US strikes 'finish the job' of destroying Fordow plant?

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00:00Series then of loud explosions of sirens have sounded about across both Israel and Iran over

00:05the last few hours. We've heard from the Israeli army that at least 15 missiles were launched at

00:11the country as people headed for bomb shelters. Also heard electricity has been cut in some areas

00:16of both Israel and Iran. And we've heard from Iran as well that there have been a series of

00:21explosions over the skies of Tehran. We've also heard in the last few moments that the

00:25underground facility at Fordo. Well, let's bring you up to date with the very latest then hearing of

00:31that attack on Fordo over the last few moments from the Israeli military. France 24's James

00:36Andre is with me here on set. James, unprecedented this, isn't it? I mean, we had this big attack by

00:42the US using these bunker buster bombs over the weekend. And now it appears the Israeli military

00:47targeting the same site once again. Yeah, well, it appears that basically what happens with the

00:52famous GBU-57, which are these huge £30,000, that's 13 metric tons, bombs, obviously, it appears

01:01if we're having new or renewed Israeli attacks on the site, haven't actually finished the job off. Now,

01:08there's a big question mark as to how deep Fordo is. Rafael Grossi, actually the head of the

01:15International Nuclear Monitoring Organization for the UN has visited the site. And he said, I quote,

01:22that it's half a mile underground. Basically, experts speculate about maybe, you know, shallow 60

01:30meters as deep as half a mile. Nobody knows. The GBU is indeed the most powerful conventional bomb in

01:37America's arsenal and basically the most powerful conventional bomb, non-nuclear bomb in the world.

01:42But has it managed to finish the job off? Well, it appears that what we have now is Israel striking

01:47yet again on Fordo in order to make sure that site is completely destroyed. Experts have said that

01:52basically, you cannot destroy Iran's nuclear capacities without taking out Fordo. Now, the

02:00question is, how much damage has Fordo sustained? Did because that's that is something which is

02:06emerging right now. And people are talking about a lot is the fact that basically Donald Trump has been

02:10a bit of a liability when it comes to what you call OPSEC, which is, you know, operational secret

02:17around a military operation, because he's been musing about attacking these places for now a couple of

02:22weeks. So have the Iranians moved the enriched Iranian out of Fordo? That's obviously a real

02:30possibility. This is inside a mountain. So yeah, maybe additional strikes were necessary for the

02:36Israelis. You know, these are all question marks. At this stage, we do not know how much damaged the

02:42equipment and the uranium installation inside this mountain of Fordo has actually sustained.

02:48That's one big question mark. And two, you know, is the enriched uranium, the one that is believed to be

02:55enriched at nearly 90%, which is basically very close to bomb grade uranium. Was it actually there?

03:02Has it been moved? Do the Israelis know where it's been moved to? If it has been moved? All these are

03:08question marks. Yeah, you mentioned moving. It's interesting you say that, James. You're just

03:11hearing, in fact, as you were talking there from Israeli media, citing a security source saying

03:16they've also attacked the roads to Fordo as well, perhaps to try and get that stop material getting

03:23in and out of the plant. Of course, the world is still waiting, isn't it, to find out what if this is

03:28going to be it or whether there will be a much bigger response from both Israel and from Iran as

03:33well to the weekend's events? Well, we're very much at, you know, this really crux moment where

03:40the big question mark is, what will Iran do next? I mean, it is now very clear that basically, you know,

03:47the United States and Israel control the skies over Iran. That is very, very clear. In the briefing by

03:53the Pentagon, it was very clear that basically these B-2 bombers, seven of them who, you know,

04:02dropped these massive bombs on Fordo and Natanz and Isfahan, basically they went in and out without

04:10even being fired at. So that, of course, asks a question. How much of the conventional weapons-arm

04:16stock does Iran still have? Do they still have missile capabilities? How much can they still strike

04:23Israel? How long can they last? These are the big questions. But then there are a lot of things

04:28that Iran can do without using conventional weapons. You've got to remember that they have

04:33proxy forces. Now, these proxy forces have been attacked and degraded over the past few weeks.

04:38We know that. But if you take, for example, neighboring Iraq. In neighboring Iraq, you have the

04:43population, popular mobilization forces. You know, these are estimated to be, you know, around 125,000 men.

04:51And, you know, they're there. They are technically part of the Iraqi army at this stage, except that

04:58their real boss is Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran. So, you know, they can wreak havoc in Iraq.

05:06If you move on to the next country, that would be Syria. Syria, obviously, the Bashar al-Assad regime

05:11has fallen. But there again, there are still forces. You know, all the former pro-Assad forces

05:18who are still there who could also potentially act. Then you move on to Lebanon. In Lebanon,

05:24Hezbollah has been degraded. As we know, Israel has bombed all of their, I'd say, strategic stocks.

05:30But they still have an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 men who are there, who are still very much committed

05:37to the cause of Iran and Shiism. And this, of course, is a force to reckon with. And then you have Yemen.

05:45In Yemen, you have the Houthiyin. The Houthiyin estimated 350,000 men. That's another question.

05:51For now, the Houthiyin haven't exactly reacted. We know that they brokered a deal with the United

05:55States to stop attacking American ships that go through the Bab el-Mondeb Strait. Is that deal

06:02still on? That's a question mark. So if you like, these are all areas where Iran could potentially act.

06:08And they could act, you know, basically saying that it was them or not. And then you have the

06:15Ormuz Strait. And that is, you know, this, this Strait, which is basically controls access to Qatar,

06:21to Saudi Arabia. And, you know, 20% of the world's energy goes through that strait. It's 30 kilometers

06:27wide. Obviously, Iran's military, you know, capacities are degraded, but they can still probably

06:34block those ships, or at least attack some of them enough to, you know, basically break that link.

06:41And that for international commerce and the price of energy could be, you know, very damaging. So

06:45they still have an array of things they can do. You can add cyber warfare as well. But the big

06:51question mark is, what do they have left? What are they ready to go? Where would they want to go?

06:55Obviously, you know, Donald Trump's bet is that they'll just fold and come to the negotiating table,

06:59that nothing is less sure.

07:01And just finally, James, briefly, if you can, we're just hearing as well, Russia's Vladimir Putin

07:05has met just in the last few moments with the Iranian foreign minister, hearing from the Kremlin,

07:11perhaps the strongest condemnation yet of the US, the Kremlin condemning and regretting US strikes.

07:17I mean, it appears at least one potential ally of Iran is lining up behind it, if you like.

07:24Now, it will. The thing is, you see, Russia is actually collateral damage in this strike,

07:28because for now they've done nothing. They were not able to help the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

07:34So basically, the regime fell, and that was that. Russia basically was in no position to actually,

07:41you know, defend the Assad regime. Then you move on to Iran. Iran has been a strategic partner of Russia

07:49in the war with Ukraine. Basically, it was Iran who started, you know, supplying Russia with these

07:57famous Shahed drones, but also other types of equipment in order to help Russia with this war

08:03in Ukraine. Well, now, basically, the table has turned. It's now Iran that needs support from Russia.

08:08Russia does not appear to be bringing any form of support. Now, this, in the global narrative that's

08:14wanted by Vladimir Putin, obviously, makes him look weak, because indeed, his plan was to create a sort

08:20of an alternative, non-aligned group of states that would be led and headed by the Kremlin. Well,

08:26you see, that's one of the main allies of the Kremlin in the war with Ukraine. And basically,

08:33the Kremlin doesn't appear to be in any posture to help out militarily. Now, the question is,

08:38will Vladimir Putin move assets, help close its airspace to, you know, U.S. planes? I don't know.

08:45But in any case, for now, Russia is looking weak. So, yes, they've come out and condemned this attack.

08:53We'll see. We'll have to see where this goes from here. Will Putin actually act?

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