Before and after satellite images reveal scale of destruction from US bombing assault on Iran’s nuclear sites

They were the strikes that took Iran – and the world – by surprise. Just days after US President Donald Trump told Iran it had two weeks to negotiate an end to its nuclear program, he announced on social media that the US had struck three key Iranian enrichment sites in the dead of night.

Late on Saturday US time, Trump said the sites at Natanz, Isfahan and “nuclear mountain” Fordow had been “completely and totally obliterated”, although Pentagon officials said it was too early to assess the destruction, which appeared to be “extremely severe”.

Since then, satellite images have emerged which show the devastation wrought by the US and its 13,600-kilogram bunker-buster bombs.

Here’s what we know and can identify from the images so far.

Fordow

The enrichment site at Fordow was built secretly, deep inside a mountain to protect it from attacks before it was revealed in 2009. It has been the focus of Israel’s efforts to end Iran’s nuclear program, but only in these latest strikes has the US deployed B-2 bombers carrying the GBU-57 bunker-busting bomb required to penetrate the underground facility.

Analysis by CNN shows at least six large craters at the site after the US strike, with grey dust and rubble around the possible entry points for bunker-buster bombs.

The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency has said it is unable to assess damage to Fordow because of its underground location and the penetrating nature of the bombs used.

Natanz

Natanz, Iran’s largest uranium enrichment site, sustained heavy damage in earlier strikes by the Israeli military.

Following the US strikes, satellite images show two large craters, which appear to have been caused by bunker-buster bombs, above the suspected locations of the complex’s underground enrichment halls.

Isfahan

The Isfahan site, believed to be the primary location for Iran’s secret nuclear weapon development program, appeared noticeably more blackened and rubble-strewn in satellite images from Sunday. Because Isfahan was attacked with more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles launched from a US Navy submarine, above-ground damage was more visible and straightforward to assess than the other two sites.

The IAEA has said based on the information available, there appeared to have been extensive additional damage, although it said Iranian nuclear authorities had told it there had been no increase in off-site radiation levels after the US strikes.

How the US payload and decoy missions unfolded

Under the US’s 37-hour round trip mission, dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer”, B-2 bombers struck the Iranian sites alongside fighter jets. Missiles were also launched from a navy vessel in the Arabian Sea.

A feint in which a group of B-2 bombers flew west across the Pacific Ocean as a decoy was used to maintain tactical surprise. Mid-air refuelling points meant US planes did not need to take off from bases on the territory of European NATO allies.

This graphic, which uses US local times, lays out how the mission unfolded.

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