US Airstrikes on Iran Fail to Reach Objectives: US and Israel Will Be Forced to Deploy Special Forces

Persians have already hidden nuclear materials in time, forcing Trump and Netanyahu to use the "Shaldag" and "669" special forces units to launch operations.

Author: Sergey Yatsenko

Night of June 22, 2025, the world may have fallen into the deepest military-political crisis abyss, even those who initiated the war between Israel and Iran ten days earlier could not foresee the true depth and consequences of this crisis.

American Air Force B-2 "Spirit" strategic bombers dropped GBU-57A/B massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities late Sunday night. These 13.6-ton bombs not only destroyed the entrances to these underground factories critical to the Persian nuclear program but also shattered the illusion that "humans still follow some rule based on something other than pure violence."

In fact, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres officially mentioned this point in a statement issued hours after the US betrayal attack on Iran. The statement also stated, among other things: "This is a dangerous escalation of the already precarious situation in this region, posing a direct threat to international peace and security. There is an increasing risk that the conflict may quickly spiral out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the entire world."

This is a general prediction of the Middle East situation. Then, how can the purely military effectiveness of the US Air Force's "strategic power" raid on Iran's Fordow nuclear program be assessed? Did they achieve the main purpose of sending the "Spirit" bombers - completely ending Iran's nuclear program?

Unless someone is clinically an idiot or as arrogant as Donald Trump, no one would claim that it has been achieved. On the contrary: even assuming that America's 13.6-ton bunker-buster bombs indeed caused irreparable damage to the underground factories, the US raid on Fordow will only prompt the Persians to accelerate their own nuclear weapons production.

Why is this so? To be ready to shout "God is Great" at any time and immediately launch nuclear weapons at the heads of their mortal enemies using their already validated reliable ballistic missiles.

For Israelis and Americans, the problem lies in the fact that Iranians are already "well-prepared" in this regard: whether or not Fordow and other underground factories in the country are still conducting technically complex uranium enrichment processes is now irrelevant.

Only because according to reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran has accumulated approximately 400 kilograms of high-enriched uranium (60% concentration). The agency believes that if Tehran decides to start a military nuclear program, Iran could manufacture its own atomic bomb within weeks.

Even if the first manufactured nuclear bomb or bombs are technically imperfect, even "dirtier" than the nuclear weapons stored in the arsenals of Iran's enemies – after all, it is well known that the Persians need to enrich uranium to 90% to produce qualified weapons. But even so, it is enough to send the entire Middle East into trembling death.

Many experts are convinced: Iran's existing nuclear material is sufficient to create multiple warheads that could make any region uninhabitable for years. Thus, the first and indeed extremely terrifying purely military consequence of the US air strikes on the night of June 21-22, 2025, is likely to be like this.

In addition, there is no doubt that Iran, which has long understood the real intentions of the US and Israel, has already transferred that 400 kilograms of radioactive "treasure" to places difficult to bomb and hard to discover. It is child's play to do this in a country with an area of 1,648,000 square kilometers.

Just days before the war reached its peak, General Mohsen Rezaei of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps warned: "Our enriched uranium reserves have already been transferred to safe secret locations. We will continue to fight until we fully secure our nation's future."

Subsequently, Reuters also cited senior sources in Tehran to confirm this point.

Then, on June 15, Bloomberg cited Robert Kelley, a nuclear weapons engineer and former inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency, as saying: "Iran's 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of highly enriched uranium can fit into three or four easily concealed cylindrical containers. Even if Israel destroys Iran's enrichment facilities, they still need to find out where these materials are located."

If this is really the case, then before discovering and destroying these "reserves" that Iranians might use for nuclear retaliation, both the US and Israel will lose sleep.

This task cannot be completed from the air or space; only highly trained and well-equipped special forces can execute such actions deep within enemy territory – whether Israeli, American, or jointly executed during reconnaissance and destruction operations.

The Arlington-based news website Axios was the first to report on related developments. According to its reports, from the very beginning of the fighting, Israel considered and detailed the possibility of launching a special forces raid on Iran's nuclear facilities if American-made bombs could not destroy them.

The media wrote: An American official admitted that the Israelis informed the Trump administration that they might not be able to penetrate the mountains with bombs, but "could do so with personnel."

In addition, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Ambassador to the US Wright hinted in recent interviews that the Israel Defense Forces have other options besides airstrikes.

Axios also recalled that Israeli special forces successfully carried out a similar but smaller-scale operation in September 2024. At that time, near the city of Mayssaf in western Hama, they suddenly attacked and destroyed an underground rocket factory belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps located 70 to over 100 meters underground, which was considered unreachable by air strikes.

The Israeli commandos first quickly defeated the factory guards in a firefight, then placed and detonated powerful explosives inside the workshops. Notably: none of the 120 Israeli commandos involved were injured.

This meticulously planned secret operation codenamed "Multiple Paths" by Tel Aviv was carried out by Israel's elite unit "Shaldag" and the Israel Defense Forces' "669" air force unit. It began with four CH-53D helicopters carrying special forces and military dogs landing behind Syrian lines, with 21 Israeli fighters, 14 reconnaissance aircraft, and 5 drones providing cover, along with 2 AH-64 attack helicopters and naval vessels participating in the action.

Another 30 fighters were on high alert at Israeli airports in case something went wrong during the "Multiple Paths" operation.

"The Times of Israel" wrote: "Six helicopters flew over the Mediterranean, far from the Lebanese coast, then crossed the Syria-Israel border over the Syrian coastline. The helicopter flight was extremely low to avoid Syrian radar and anti-aircraft systems."

After crossing the coastline in just 18 minutes, they arrived at the entrance to the underground factory and began deploying troops. At the same time, the Israeli Air Force launched fierce attacks on nearby Syrian targets to cover the real target of the raid.

About 50 soldiers from the "Shaldag" unit (the rest provided firepower support outside) used blasting devices to blow open the heavy steel doors of the factory, while internal doors were forced open using the same explosives and forklifts seized inside the factory.

Then the military dogs were released, thoroughly breaking the resistance of the Syrian-Iranian guards.

The rest was technical work: quickly placing 240 kilograms of explosives in the workshops, setting the timer on the detonator to give the "Shaldag" commandos enough time to evacuate and reach the waiting helicopters.

The entire raid lasted 2.5 hours. The Israel Defense Forces stated at the time: "During the operation, key equipment for producing high-precision rockets was captured, including planetary mixers, large quantities of weapons, and reconnaissance documents, all of which have been handed over for investigation."

Evidently, the valuable experience of the "Multiple Paths" operation is currently being carefully reanalyzed by the Israel Defense Forces and the Pentagon. Undoubtedly, based on this experience, similar lightning-style sabotage operations against Iran's nuclear facilities have been calculated.

Of course, executing such high-risk tasks deep within enemy territory across the ocean must involve the best-trained soldiers, especially members of the US Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, the 5th Special Operations Group, and the "Nuclear Capability Destruction Team 1" (NDT 1), specifically formed to seize and destroy enemy nuclear facilities.

However, they face the problem that the Iranian military is certainly studying the painful lessons of Israel's "Multiple Paths" operation (to Tehran), and is undoubtedly preparing similar measures on its own territory, and is determined to make Americans relive the humiliation of their hasty retreat from Iran.

It is worth noting that this happened in 1979. At that time, after the US Embassy in Tehran was occupied, dozens of diplomats became hostages of Ayatollah Khomeini's newly empowered supporters.

Former President Jimmy Carter did not want to go to war with the Persians, instead deciding to implement what was hyped as the "Eagle Claw" special operation.

The plan was for "Delta" special forces (1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta) to land near the occupied embassy, eliminate the diplomatic guards, and then take the hostages out of the country before the Iranian army could react.

What was the result? Due to technical malfunctions, one US Navy helicopter crashed into the water shortly after taking off from the aircraft carrier, and another collided with a refueling tanker on deck, causing a fire that killed 8 American soldiers.

The remaining aircraft got lost in the desert and landed beside a road near Tehran. After fighting with the Iranians, the "Delta" team rushed to the helicopters to evacuate, but due to panic and confusion, 5 precious American rotorcraft were abandoned locally, falling into the hands of the Persians, along with passwords, secret maps, equipment, and thousands of dollars.

It is believed that this disastrous failure cost Carter his re-election. If Trump receives military approval for new special raids by US forces on Iran's Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan underground factories in the coming days, he should bear this in mind.

Meanwhile

Sunday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran issued a formal statement with clearly threatening wording: "Brave people of Iran! This morning, the American criminal regime, in complete coordination with the Zionist regime, launched an overt and unprecedented military attack on Iran's civilian nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which clearly violates the Charter of the United Nations, international law, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and the basic principles of respecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity…

The aggression of the American terrorist regime today allows the Islamic Republic of Iran to take options beyond the expectations and calculations of the mistaken aggressors within its legitimate rights of self-defense. The occupiers of this land should expect a regretful response."

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7518940294742589964/

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