Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant

[5] Existence of the then-unfinished enrichment plant was disclosed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by Iran on 21 September 2009,[6] but only after the site became known to Western intelligence services.

[11] In January 2012, the IAEA announced that Iran had started producing uranium enriched up to 20% for medical purposes and that material "remains under the agency's containment and surveillance.”[12] Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of April 2015, the Fordow plant was to be restructured to less intensive research use.

"Two of those six cascades will spin without uranium and will be transitioned, including through appropriate infrastructure modification," for stable radioisotope production for medical, agricultural, industrial, and scientific use.

[17] On 5 November 2019, Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi announced that Iran will enrich uranium to 5% at Fordow.

Six 10 meter wide entry portals to the complex are located within the fenced area, as well as several buildings, the largest of which is approximately 5,500 square metres (59,000 sq ft).

[24] However, attacking a nuclear facility so close to the city of Qom which is considered so holy between Shia Muslims brings concern of a potential risk of a Shiite religious response.

[25] In November 2013, hundreds of Iranians, mostly students of Sharif University of Technology, accompanied by the head of AEOI, Ali Akbar Salehi, and several Majles (parliament) representatives formed a human chain around the Fordow uranium enrichment facility.