Former Mossad Chief: Mossad Operatives Toured Iran's Fordow Nuclear Site 'Many Times'

Former Mossad Director Yossi Cohen disclosed that Israeli intelligence operatives secretly entered Iran's Fordow nuclear facility on multiple occasions to gather intelligence on the site. Speaking at the Galilee Conference, Cohen said "We toured the nuclear site in Fordow, Iran, many times in order to understand the site." He characterized a later American military operation against the facility as "the fulfillment of all my dreams."

Cohen addressed Iran's nuclear advancement, noting that while Tehran has enriched uranium to 60 percent, it has not achieved weapons-grade capability. "Sixty percent enriched uranium is still far from a bomb," He said.

Fordow is one of Iran's two primary uranium enrichment plants, situated approximately 30 kilometers northeast of Qom and built roughly 90 meters beneath the surface within the Zagros Mountains. Its underground construction has made it one of the most difficult targets within Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

The facility's existence became public in 2009 following its discovery by Western intelligence agencies. During a 2018 Mossad operation that obtained Iran's classified nuclear archive, Israeli intelligence also acquired detailed blueprints of the Fordow complex. Later years saw Iran increase enrichment activity at the site and install more advanced centrifuges.

In June 2025, the Israeli Air Force targeted Fordow as part of a broader operation against Iran's nuclear infrastructure, though the strike did not eliminate the facility. Days later, the United States conducted a larger attack on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan using six B-2 stealth bombers that released bunker-buster bombs weighing approximately 13.5 tons each. According to Gen. Dan Caine, then chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, the bombs entered through ventilation shafts, with initial strikes clearing obstructions to allow deeper penetration into the underground complex.