The United States has moved six B-2 stealth bombers to Guam, a Micronesian island in the Western Pacific, the US Fox News broadcaster reported, citing flight tracking data and voice communications with air traffic control.
“The bombers apparently refuelled after launching from Missouri, suggesting they launched without full fuel tanks due to a heavy onboard payload, which could be bunker-buster bombs,” the channel claimed.
"Destroying (Fordow) from the air is a job only the US can do." Fox News Digital quoted Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz as saying.
Moreover, Jonathan Ruhe, director of Foreign Policy for The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), said the bunker busters are designed to use the force of gravity to "penetrate through any mixture of earth, rock, and concrete before the bomb itself then explodes" underground.
The explosion that ensues could take out the target fully or "collapse the structure" around the target "without necessarily obliterating it," Ruhe explained, according to Fox News.
Earlier, the Israeli daily Haaretz cited a senior Israeli military official as saying that Fordow, located in a tunnel beneath a mountain near the city of Qom, is one of the facilities already designated as a target.
“If we are given the order to strike, we will act,” the unnamed source said.
The bombers departed from Whiteman Air Force Base in the US state of Missouri and are headed west to the strategic US base in Guam—a US island territory in Micronesia in the Western Pacific—accompanied by four refuelling aircraft, Haaretz said.
It remains unclear whether they will continue to Diego Garcia, a key US base located roughly 3,500 kilometres (2,174 miles) from Iran, it added.
A secure facility
Fordow is considered one of Iran’s most secure nuclear sites, lying around 80-90 meters (262-295 feet) underground. Due to the depth and engineering complexity of the facility, military experts have long debated whether it could be destroyed, even by the US's largest conventional bombs.
Haaretz described three potential scenarios that have been discussed regarding a strike on Fordow.
One would involve a direct American air strike using a massive bomb such as the MOAB, or Massive Ordnance Air Blast, which weighs around 13 to 14 tons and is released from strategic bombers.
Another possibility would be an Israeli operation using US-supplied aircraft, though this option is currently viewed as unlikely.
A third scenario would see the Israeli Air Force conducting a unilateral strike using all available aerial assets, including stealth fighters and long-range aircraft.
The newspaper claimed that such discussions have become more urgent in recent days.
On Wednesday, the Israeli daily Maariv reported that Israeli officials are preparing for a possible attack on Fordow without necessarily waiting for Washington’s green light.
Hostilities broke out on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes on several sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks. Meanwhile, in Iran, 430 people have been killed and more than 3,500 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.
