00:00Fordow, Iran's key underground uranium enrichment facility.
00:06In the heart of Iran can be found a complex vital for developing nuclear weapons.
00:1124 kilometers northeast of Qum is the Fordow fuel enrichment plant. The fuel,
00:17being uranium, with the capacity to be enriched to weapons grade levels of 90%.
00:22This is the support site outside the underground enrichment facility. Satellite imagery as of
00:282024 shows construction has been completed for a new building across from the National Vacuum
00:34Technology Center critical to the gas centrifuge program. Enrichment of uranium-235 occurs in gas
00:41centrifuges by removing uranium-238 and is conducted inside this former IRGC missile base. This is how
00:48Fordow is designed based on the captured nuclear archive documents. With uranium stored in 48Y
00:54containers before enrichment, 10 new IR-6 centrifuges according to an IAEA report, and the storage for
01:02UF-6 weaponized uranium hexafluoride. There is a fourth gated structure at the rear of the mountain,
01:08possibly another access tunnel. Outside of Fordow is a salt lake called Hulzi Sultan and from the air
01:16over this salt lake we can see the Fordow uranium enrichment facility. Inside these mountains are the
01:23underground centrifuges with the support site outside. On January 12, 2025, Iran's Channel 2 aired an
01:31extensive air defense drill at Fordow. Systems such as the Kavosh radar and MIM-23 Hawks were displayed
01:38up close. Three batteries of MIM-23 Hawks surfaced air missiles are outside the main gate.
01:46At least six anti-aircraft guns are spread out across three separate fighting positions,
01:52and a second strategic air defense site is located 10 kilometers east. Shown to have a Hathi engagement
01:59radar and a Kameen-2 battery. Footage from the drills also shows a Kordod-15 launcher connected to a
02:06Najem 804 acquisition radar which can detect targets out to 150 kilometers. We can view this missile defense
02:13site from the top of an ancient Caravanserai. The platforms for missiles and radars on flat open
02:19terrain can be seen in relation to the southeast section of the Fordow nuclear complex.
02:26A fourth point air defense site is 9 kilometers west of Fordow off of highway 7. The Iranian state
02:33media reporter explains the purpose of these antiquated systems.
02:48Short-range air defense missiles like the Majeed system are also deployed. While the long-range missiles
02:54such as the Hawks can hit targets out to 45 kilometers, the Kameen-2 has an operational range of 100 kilometers.
