Bunker-buster strike on Iran's Fordow imminent? Trump rushes back as Israel wants US to 'finish the job'

US President Donald Trump's abrupt departure from the G7 summit in Canada has intensified speculation that Washington may be preparing to launch strikes on Iran's heavily fortified nuclear facility in Fordow. According to CNN and multiple other reports, Israel is pushing for US involvement to neutralise Iran's underground nuclear complex at Fordow - something only American military assets are believed to be capable of achieving.

"We believe that the United States of America and the president of the United States have an obligation to make sure that the region is going to a positive way and that the world is free from Iran that possesses (a) nuclear weapon," former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN

Iran has five known nuclear facilities but its two main sites are in Natanz and Fordow. Natanz hosts two key enrichment facilities - the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) and the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP).

Fordow, meanwhile, is buried deep into a mountain, making it far more resistant to airstrikes. According to Reuters, around 2,000 centrifuges are currently operating at Fordow, most of them advanced IR-6 machines, with up to 350 enriching uranium to 60%.

While Israeli forces struck Natanz on Friday, Israel wants the US to finish the job at Fordow, as only Washington has the capability to destroy the underground nuclear site with bunker-busting bombs.   

The Financial Times reported that Israel struck Natanz on Friday and 'damaged' the underground area of the site. While Fordow was not explicitly named, the report noted that both sites were built with these scenarios in mind. "Destroying such a structure would require successive hits with bunker-buster bombs," the report added.

The US has B-2 stealth bombers and 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators specifically designed for such deep strikes — capabilities Israel does not possess on its own. Retired US Air Force General Charles Wald told FT earlier that Israel's forces "don't have enough 5,000-pounders" to take out Fordow and Natanz.

Foreign Affairs reported that while Fordow may have been hit, "there is no confirmation that its defenses have been breached or that its couple of thousand centrifuges have been destroyed." It warned that if Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium and its centrifuge infrastructure remain intact, it could "reconstitute a nuclear weapons program in just weeks."

Israel may be pushing "behind the scenes for American involvement to, as it sees it, finish the job," BBC reported, adding that Tel Aviv believes the US is the only force that can destroy Fordow's underground nuclear complex.

Geostrategic expert Brahma Chellaney, too, said that Trump is under pressure to involve the US more directly in the war — "through a bombing campaign to take out Iran's underground nuclear facilities with the so-called bunker-busting bombs. Israel has neither these 30,000-pound weapons nor the B-2 bomber aircraft for delivering them."

The speculation deepened after Trump posted on Truth Social, asking everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran: "Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!"

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump left the summit to work on a ceasefire, but Trump said his early exit had nothing to do with a ceasefire, but was about "much bigger than that". 

The Iran-Israel conflict has now entered its fifth day, with both sides exchanging fire. Israel claims to have hit several "military targets" in western Iran, including missile and drone storage sites. The conflict began with Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure, followed by retaliatory attacks from Tehran.