Last month, Israel's airstrikes hit a working nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, Iran, according to a report by Axios. This information came from three US officials, one current Israeli official, and one former Israeli official. 

The report was released as the UN nuclear watchdog gets ready to vote on criticising Iran for not cooperating with its inspectors. It also follows a report stating that Iran told the Biden administration last month that it would not try to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump. On October 26, Israel conducted an hours-long operation targeting Iran's Parchin facility. The strike destroyed advanced equipment used for designing explosives that could be part of a nuclear weapon. This caused significant setbacks to Iran's nuclear weapons research and was in response to an earlier Iranian attack on Israel.

According to two Israeli officials quoted by Axios, the Israeli strike "will make it much harder for Iran to develop a nuclear explosive device if it chooses to do so." The story cited Israeli sources as saying that if Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons, it would have to "replace the equipment that was destroyed," and that "if Iran tries to procure it, they believe they will be able to track it," according to Axios. According to satellite photos, the "Taleghan 2" complex was already known to have been the target of the strikes and was identified as the location of Iran's previous nuclear program, which was formally shut down in 2003.

Earlier this year, U.S. and Israeli intelligence noticed new activities at the site. These included computer modelling, working with metals, and studying explosives—all connected to developing a nuclear device. “They conducted scientific activity that could lay the ground for the production of a weapon. It was a top-secret thing. A small part of the Iranian government knew about this, but most of the Iranian government didn’t,” a US official told Axios. The research at Taleghan 2 led the US Director of National Intelligence to update its view on Iran's nuclear program in August. Previously, the assessment stated that Iran was "not currently working on" activities needed to create a testable nuclear device.

On October 26, Israeli airstrikes targeted sites involved in manufacturing and launching drones and ballistic missiles, as well as air defence systems. However, they did not strike any known nuclear facilities. The U.S. had urged Israel to avoid targeting nuclear sites to prevent escalating tensions with Iran. Still, the U.S. supported Israel’s response to Iran's October 1 attack, during which Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles at Israel — its second direct attack since April. Israel made an exception by targeting the Taleghan 2 facility, as it was not part of Iran's declared nuclear program. Iran claims its nuclear activities are for civilian purposes and denies any military intentions.

Iran would have accepted its own breach of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if it had recognised the importance of the attack. “The strike was a not-so-subtle message that the Israelis have significant insight into the Iranian system even when it comes to things that were kept top secret and known to a very small group of people in the Iranian government,” a US official told Axios. Israeli officials were also described by the news site as saying that the hit would make it far more difficult for Tehran to develop a nuclear bomb, should it decide to do so. 

“This equipment is a bottleneck. Without it the Iranians are stuck,” a senior Israeli official said.“This is equipment the Iranians would need in the future if they want to make progress towards a nuclear bomb. Now they don’t have it anymore and it is not trivial. They will need to find another solution and we will see it,” the official added.