What do we know about Iran’s nuclear capabilities?
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On Friday, Israel launched a huge wave of attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. It was bigger and more ambitious than anything that had come before, killing some of Iran's military leaders and nuclear scientists. The attacks targeted military sites and its main nuclear enrichment facility.

Iran says more than 220 people, including civilians, have been killed in the attacks. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons, fearing Iran could use them against Israel. And Iranian leaders have vowed to destroy Israel in the past. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.

Since Friday, Iran has launched drones and missiles in response. Israel has shot down many of them, but says more than 20 people have been killed. I'm Hannah Gelbart. I'm the host of What in the World from the BBC World Service. And today we're asking, what do we know about Iran's nuclear weapons? And what impact will Israel's strikes have on them?

To break down what is happening in this fast developing story, I'm back in the studio with Goncai Haber-Biazad from BBC Persian. Hi, Goncai. Hi. You are, of course, from Iran. And I want to start by asking what your friends and family in Iran have been telling you about all of this. One thing that made everyone that I know panicked and worried was the IDF's, the Israeli army's statement saying people should evacuate when they are based near military sites in Iran.

And that was a shock to everyone. So people were saying, we don't know where the military sites are. What should we do? And people in Tehran were especially worried because that is where it's believed to have the most military sites in Iran. And people have been trying to escape the city.

But it has been almost impossible because of the heavy traffic, because of the queues and lines in front of petrol stations. And some have managed to flee from Tehran, but some are still there.

And another thing that people that I've talked to have been complaining about is that there are no warnings to Iranians when the attacks happen. It's not like Israel, when an attack is happening in Tel Aviv or other cities in Israel by Iran. People hear sirens, they go to bunkers, they take shelter. But in Iran, what happens is that you hear explosions and you can just hope for the best while you're there.

And another thing is like people in Tehran are so worried because the attacks this time has happened on residential buildings as well. The buildings that Israel says that Iranian officials and nuclear scientists live there. And some people have asked me, how do we know that our neighbor might not be an undercover Iranian agent? So that's the reason we have to flee. I want to talk about Iran's nuclear program because that's really at the heart of all of this. So why

What stage of development was Iran's nuclear program at before the Israeli strikes? Do we know if they were on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon? Before the recent Israeli strikes, Iran's nuclear program was described by the IAEA, which is International Atomic Energy Agency, as having a significant stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, a purity level that has increased

no civilian justification because Iran says that its nuclear program is peaceful. This 60% is very close to weapon grade and nuclear atomic nuclear bomb grade, which is 90%.

And it's very easy to go from 60 to 90. So this was what made the IAEA worried. And the IAEA said that it's unable to verify that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful right now. And is the IAEA the only way that we can find out if Iran is making nuclear weapons? Are there other sources of intelligence about this?

Well, there was a US intelligence assessment recently in March that said Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.

And Iran's supreme leader issued a fatwa or a religious decree saying that Iran must not have nuclear weapons. Iran has long denied that it wants nuclear weapons, as you said, but there have been several secret nuclear sites that have been uncovered over the years. There was one time in 2002, another in 2009. How were those hidden facilities discovered?

Iran has said that not much damage has happened to nuclear facilities because they're located underground. Them being underground makes them hidden. It's not easy for satellite images to see them. However, there have been some leaks, some leaks of information that has led to them being identified in the recent years and also in previous years as well. When was the last time that the IAEA were able to go and verify the status of Iran's nuclear weapons?

So IAEA says that the agency is present in Iran and they're monitoring. But at the same time, IAEA has also said that Iran has disabled some of its cameras in different locations. And Iran is not giving full access to inspectors to work freely in Iran. And that is of concern to the agency. A lot of people listening to this will be asking why.

why Iran isn't allowed nuclear weapons when countries like Israel, India and Pakistan do have them? Well, Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT, and it has stated it's a non-nuclear weapon state which commits to not producing nuclear weapons.

while Israel, Pakistan have not signed this treaty. Israel has not announced that they have nuclear weapons, but that's the belief of many intelligence organizations all around the world that Israel does have nuclear weapons.

There are many concerns about Iran's nuclear weapons that are linked to many reasons like the regional stability and what Iran has been repeatedly saying about Israel since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, that Israel is a cancerous tumor. This is what Iran's supreme leaders have been saying throughout the years. And also Iran's alleged support of terrorism in the region. What about nuclear power stations? Does it have those? Were they also targeted by Israel?

Yes, Iran does have nuclear power station which it claims that is for generating power. And one of them is Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran. Israel's recent targets have not been power stations yet. They have been enrichment facilities such as Natanz in central Iran and Isfahan province.

But we haven't seen any concrete reports yet, but they could be targeted. I want to talk a little bit about how the U.S. is involved in all of this, because 10 years ago there was an agreement between Iran and several world powers, including the U.S. and the U.K.,

that it would restrict its nuclear program and be more open to inspections from the likes of the IAEA. But under Donald Trump, the US pulled out of this deal a few years later and gradually Iran restarted its nuclear activities.

So why did Iran agree to talks with the U.S. earlier this year? Have they said that they are willing to stop making nuclear weapons? I have to give a bit of context about this one because Iran has agreed to talks with the U.S. this year because of significant economic hardships that are present in Iran.

Iran has been under sanctions by the US and European powers. And Iran says that it's the reason why economy is suffering. So it wants sanction relief. That's the reason it has been involved in the talks.

The US said Iran has to stop enriching uranium, something that Iranian officials have repeatedly said that they are not willing to do. And yesterday there was supposed to be the sixth round of nuclear talks held between Iran and the US. But with the recent attacks, Iran's foreign ministry and the spokesperson, they both said that continuing talks with the US under the current situation

is not justifiable. There has been a lot of discussion about whether the US has been involved in this latest wave of attacks by Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities. What do we know about the US's involvement? The US has stated that it's not directly involved in the recent attacks, but at the same time we know that the US has supported Israel in its military program. By providing weapons. By providing weapons, exactly.

But the thing is, Iran has been very quick to point finger at the U.S. and saying it's complicit in Israeli attacks. This is a sentiment we have seen repeatedly by the state TV, by the officials as well.

And Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Ismail Barai, he said today that the US has to condemn officially Israeli attacks on Iran if they want the negotiations to continue. What has international reaction to this been like? International reactions have been mixed. Several Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, have condemned Israel attacks on Iran.

while they said that Israel has violated international laws when attacking Iran. But when it comes to the West, countries like the US, France, Germany have had a more measured tone. And they said Israel has the right to self-defense.

And that is exactly what Ursula von der Leyen, who is president of the European Commission, said. In this context, Israel has the right to defend itself. Iran is the principal source of regional instability.

always been very clear. Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. We have voiced our strong concerns over Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program. A diplomatic solution remains the best way in the long run to address concerns about Iran's nuclear program. So Gonshay, how much damage have Israel strikes done to Iran's nuclear facilities?

Well, there are initial reports indicating that there has been significant damage to Iran's main uranium enrichment facility located in central Isfahan province. And there has been above ground damages, which BBC Verifier has done a report on it, assessing satellite imagery. Because this is so recent and this is so new.

It needs more time to see what the actual damages were. And what has Israel's government said about these attacks? Israel said they will continue to cripple Iran's nuclear program. And Israel's defense minister said that residents of Tehran should evacuate and there's no intention to harm Tehran residents. Golce, thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Attacks from both sides are continuing. In Israel, despite political divides about what the government is doing in Gaza, many people support its actions in Iran.

But around the world, countries are calling on Israel and Iran to de-escalate. So what would that take? Well, Lise Doucette, the BBC's chief international correspondent, says that President Trump will be central to easing the tensions. He has veered wildly. This time last week, he was telling Israel, stop threatening Iran militarily. You're going to blow it, as he put it, with my effort to get a nuclear deal with Iran. Then when Israel started the attacks on Friday morning, he described it as exasperating.

excellent and warned Iran there was much more. Last night on his Truth Social platform, he said there's many meetings going on that we do know the phone lines must be burning, including from President Trump's very close allies in the Persian Gulf, who he just visited last month, who made it clear to him then that any major military operation in Iran could be existential for them too. They live in

in such close proximity. So it all, I'm sure they're all going to be trying to get President Trump's ear today. No one would have wanted this war, but the fact that it comes now, they're going to be face to face with President Trump. He changes his mind and his words so often. We're going to hope that they can put pressure on him to do something to deescalate before it does have an even wider, not just regional, but global impact.

Mr Trump has said that the two sides should make a deal, but Iran says it won't negotiate a ceasefire while it's under attack. And Mr Netanyahu has said that the issue here is not de-escalation, but stopping Iran from developing its nuclear capability.

That's it for today. This is a fast-moving story. You can find all the latest on it on the BBC News website. And if you want to find out more about Iran, its relationship with Israel and why it plays such a significant role in the Middle East, we have also heard from Goncai about that on an episode called Iran, What You Need to Know, which you can find wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Thank you for joining us. I'm Hannah Gelbart. This is What In The World from the BBC World Service.