WORLD REPORT: ISRAEL-IRAN WARAn Explosive Moment of Truth for Iran and Israel | What Regime Change Means in Iran | The Radiation Risks of Iran’s Nuclear Program, and more

A Long Way Down: What It Takes to Hit Iran’s Deepest Nuclear Site  (Samuel Granados, Junho Lee, Jeremy White, and Leanne Abraham, New York Times)
Iran built its most critical nuclear enrichment facility, Fordo, deep inside a mountain to shield it from attacks.
But the United States has a bomb that experts think could probably reach the subterranean site. President Trump is considering a plan to use it.
Only the U.S. military has the 30,000-pound GBU-57, or Massive Ordnance Penetrator, that may be able to destroy Fordo, and it is the only armed force with aircraft that can carry out a mission with it.

Does Israel Need to Strike Fordow?  (Blaise Misztal and Jonathan Ruhe, National Interest)
Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities have used the program’s dispersion to its advantage.

An Explosive Moment of Truth for Iran and Israel  (Economist)
A test of Trump’s nerves, Iranian resilience and Israeli overreach.

A U.S. Attack on Iran Would Show the Limits of China’s Power  (David PiersonKeith Bradsher and Berry Wang, New York Times)
China, which depends on Iran for oil and to counter American influence, has a lot to lose from a wider war. But there’s not much it can do about it.

What Regime Change Means in Iran  (Arash Azizi, Foreign Policy)
A new Iran may emerge from the current conflict, but don’t expect a democracy.

The Radiation Risks of Iran’s Nuclear Program, with or without a Strike on Fordow  (François Diaz-Maurin, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
Mined uranium naturally is made of less than 1 percent fissile uranium 235, which can be used in nuclear chain reactions. Going from a concentration of less than 1 percent uranium 235 to 60 percent uranium 235 takes much longer than further purifying 60-percent uranium 235 to a 90-percent concentration, the level considered “weapons grade.” Experts estimate that it could take as little as five to six days for Iran to complete this step and enrich enough uranium for one nuclear weapon.
Iran weaponizing this material, while rightly an extremely urgent concern, is not the only potential risk related to the country’s nuclear stockpile. While much remains unknown about the whereabouts or conditions of Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the material poses a contamination or radiation exposure risk, regardless of whether the material is targeted in an attack.

Donald Trump and the Iran Crisis  (David Remnick, New Yorker)
It’s not easy to trust the President to make an optimal decision. For one thing, he is suspicious of nearly every source of information save his own instincts.