Very belatedly, Axios has issued a report which claims Israel's airstrikes on Iran last month destroyed an active nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin. Three US officials and a pair of Israeli officials were cited for the Friday report.

"The strike — which targeted a site previously reported to be inactive — significantly damaged Iran's effort over the past year to resume nuclear weapons research, Israeli and U.S. officials said," the report says. The site has been identified, also in satellite images, as the Parchin Military Complex.

TOI: Satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at Iran's Parchin military base outside of Tehran, Iran, October 27, 2024. The damaged structures are in the bottom right corner & bottom center of the image. Planet Labs PBC via AP

This included the destruction of "sophisticated equipment used to design the plastic explosives that surround uranium in a nuclear device and are needed to detonate it," according to the sources.

Iran has of course never acknowledged or confirmed this, and it rejects the accusation that it possesses an active nuclear weapons program. Instead, Tehran insists it only has a peaceful nuclear weapons program.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have for years insisted that the Islamic Republic is bent on acquiring a nuke, and Netanyahu in particular has expressed readiness to do anything to stop it.

Israel's Oct. 26 attack, which ostensibly was in retaliation for Iran's Oct.1st ballistic missile attack on Israel, was conducted by airstrikes - and Israeli officials informed the US ahead of time that neither oil nor nuclear sites were being targeted.

If Israel actually destroyed the facility at Parchin, this would mean Israel deceived its number one external back and ally the US (which certainly wouldn't be a first).

However, this might also be propaganda and PR-signaling for other purposes. For starters, the author of the Axios report, Barak Ravid, has long been known to quickly convey Israeli government talking points to the public. If Netanyahu government officials want something 'leaked' to the West, they often go through him.

As for timing of the report, the Times of Israel (TOI) highlights the following imminent UN action:

The report came as the UN nuclear watchdog prepares to vote on censuring Iran for refusing to cooperate with its inspectors, and amid a report that the Islamic Republic told the Biden administration last month it would not seek to assassinate US president-elect Donald Trump.

There is legitimate fear that after the Gaza war kicked off, and as Iran and Israel have traded tit-for-tat direct strikes for the first time, Tehran may be indeed pursuing a nuke.

Israeli attack on Parchin "nuclear site": Fact or Fiction?

As a reminder, the Taleghan 2 complex (which Axios references) was clearly hit in the strike - but assumed to be unused. Either it was in fact being used, or something else in Parchin was hit https://t.co/EMU11toEj1 pic.twitter.com/JwtfLQRl4Q

— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) November 15, 2024

If so, the world can expect more Israeli anti-Iran action, including the potential resumption of a sabotage and cyberwarfare campaign targeting Iran's nuclear sites and infrastructure. In the past, Mossad has even assassinated top Iranian nuclear scientists.