The short answer is we do not know, however Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in the past. Since Iran launched a conventional missile attack on Israel on 1 October 2024, there has been considerable media speculation Israel could retaliate by attacking Iranian nuclear facilities, but Tel Aviv has been under pressure from its main ally,  the United States, not to do so, although some American commentators and former administration officials, as well as former President Donald Trump, have encouraged Israel to do so. 

Iran has several research sites, uranium mines, a research reactor and several uranium enrichment facilities. Its programme began in the 1950s with support from the U.S under the “Atoms for Peace” program. Iran has been a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1970 and so it is legally bound not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons.

As Iran’s nuclear facilities contain enriched uranium and other elements that could be spread through the air, if struck by explosive weapons this would cause radioactive contamination and a health risk to people in the area. The level of risk would depend on how many people were in the area at the time and the size of the weapons used. 

Iran’s nuclear facilities have been attacked before. In the 1980s, plants under construction in Iran were repeatedly bombed by Iraq.