This past June, escalating tensions between Israel and Iran erupted into all-out war. Over the course of 12 days, Israel bombed targets related to Iran’s nuclear program and assassinated scientists, Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes on Israel, and the U.S. carried out airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.
U.S. forces carried out pre-dawn strikes on June 22, 2025, against three major Iranian nuclear facilities—Fordow, Natanz and the Isfahan nuclear technology complex—marking Washington’s most direct military action on Iranian territory in decades.
According to U.S. officials, B-2 stealth bombers dropped “Massive Ordnance Penetrator” bunker-buster bombs, while Tomahawk cruise missiles were also used. President Donald Trump said the aim was to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon by destroying or severely degrading enrichment capacity at hardened sites, and he urged Tehran to avoid escalation.
Assessing the results has proved difficult, and official claims diverge. Pentagon leaders publicly said intelligence indicated “severe” damage and later argued the strikes set Iran’s nuclear program back roughly one to two years. But reporting summarized by Reuters, citing a U.S. assessment reported by NBC News, said only one of the three sites may have been destroyed, with the others suffering limited damage that could allow key activities to resume within months.
International monitors have echoed the uncertainty. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the sites were hit and has reported significant damage; while stressing it needs access to assess conditions and re-establish monitoring.
In November 2025, the Associated Press reported the agency had not been able to verify Iran’s stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium for months because “continuity of knowledge” was lost after the strikes and subsequent restrictions.
Iranian officials have alternately acknowledged serious damage at some facilities while insisting the program remains peaceful and recoverable. Analysts say the ultimate measure of success will depend on whether Iran can rebuild underground capacity faster than inspectors can regain visibility into its nuclear material and equipment.
Using rare on-the-ground access in Iran and in-depth forensic analysis, FRONTLINE, The Washington Post, Evident Media and Bellingcat have conduct an immersive independent investigation of Iran’s nuclear program in the aftermath of the U.S. and Israeli strikes.
PBS’s documentary series FRONLINE has produced “Strike on Iran: The Nuclear Question.”
The documentary will be available to watch starting Dec. 16, 2025. Watch at 10/9c on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel and on PBS stations, or stream at pbs.org/frontline and in the PBS App. The documentary will also be available on the PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel.
Guest:
Sebastian Walker is a producer for FRONTLINE and produced “Strike on Iran: The Nuclear Question.”
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This episode will be recorded on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 12:30 p.m.
