One of the military’s initial option plans, as presented to the White House by the Pentagon this winter, calls for the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites, well known reporter Seymour M. Hersh wrote for the New Yorker. “One target is Iran’s main centrifuge plant, at Natanz, nearly two hundred miles south of Tehran. Natanz, which is no longer under I.A.E.A. safeguards, reportedly has underground floor space to hold fifty thousand centrifuges, and laboratories and workspaces buried approximately seventy-five feet beneath the surface,” the article says. In the journalist’s opinion Washington also counts on the national anti-governmental minorities in Iran. Official Washington has showed no reaction to the publication yet.
The Washington Post also reported that the CIA and Pentagon exports also mark possible targets. The White House hasn’t criticized the information as false. Meanwhile Iranian Foreign Ministry representative said the U.S. is fighting a psychological war against his country. He noted Tehran is going to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency but insists on the right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
