U.S. moves 30 military planes to Europe: gearing up amid Israel-Iran tensions

The recent deployment of 30 U.S. military planes to Europe, including KC-135 aerial refueling tankers, signals heightened American readiness amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.

The focus is on Iran's Fordo uranium enrichment site, located about 60 miles south of Tehran near Qom. This underground facility is deeply embedded in mountainous terrain, designed to withstand conventional air strikes, complicating any potential military action.

Ernest Moniz, former U.S. Energy Secretary, noted, "The Israeli strike really has put the United States in a difficult position, in the sense that the United States has the only capacity to at least potentially eliminate Fordow, the underground enrichment site."

Iran has enriched uranium to about 60 percent purity at Fordo, dangerously close to the 90 percent needed for a nuclear weapon, with enough material for approximately 10 weapons.

The U.S. possesses the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 13,000kg bunker-buster bomb capable of penetrating 18 meters of concrete or 61 meters of earth. However, Fordo's tunnels are estimated to be 80-90 meters underground, raising doubts about the bomb's effectiveness.

Moniz cautioned, "If the United States were to carry through with that threat to bomb Fordow, A, we would be involved in the war, quite clearly, and, B, we cannot bomb the program out of existence."

The U.S. military repositioning underscores the complexity and risks of confronting Iran's nuclear ambitions amid regional instability.

The U.S. has deployed 30 military planes, including KC-135 refueling tankers, to Europe amid rising Israel-Iran tensions. The move underscores concerns over Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment site, which is heavily fortified and close to producing nuclear weapons, complicating potential U.S. military options.