Iran Update Special Report, June 28, 2025

Information Cutoff: 2:00 PM ET

Click here to see ISW-CTP's interactive map showing the total strikes in Iran since June 12, as well as an interactive timelapse showing the strikes day-by-day.

Key Takeaways

• US and Israeli airstrikes on the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) between June 12 and 24 reportedly destroyed components of Iran’s nuclear program that would be necessary for weaponization. The strikes destroyed the Uranium Metal Conversion Plant at the ENTC, which Iran could have used to transform uranium gas into dense metal in a process called metallization. This process is one of the last steps required to form the explosive core of an atomic bomb.
• Iran may have begun repair operations at the Natanz Enrichment Complex. Commercially available satellite imagery captured on June 27 shows that Iran has filled in a crater that was formed by US GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs. The imagery shows what appears to be two tents and a truck present at the impact site.
• Israeli strikes targeted senior Iranian military and security officials across multiple branches, likely in an effort to degrade Iran’s command and control structure. Iranian media confirmed on June 28 that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed 56 Artesh members, including at least three Artesh generals and 16 conscript soldiers. Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-affiliated media reported on June 28 that Israeli strikes killed Law Enforcement Command (LEC) Intelligence Organization Deputy Director Brigadier General Mehdi Nemati. Nemati reportedly fought alongside former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq and Syria for several years.
• Iranian Supreme Leader Adviser Ali Shamkhani called on regime officials to resolve “disputes” with the Iranian population through “mutual understanding” in an interview on June 28. Shamkhani claimed that nuclear negotiations with the United States are a “deceptive plan” that seeks to “provoke unrest” and “prepare the atmosphere inside Iran” for protests. Shamkhani’s statements come as the Iranian regime has taken steps to securitize the country since the Iran-Israel ceasefire went into effect on June 24.

US and Israeli airstrikes on the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) between June 12 and 24 reportedly destroyed components of Iran’s nuclear program that would be necessary for weaponization.[i] The strikes destroyed the Uranium Metal Conversion Plant at the ENTC, which Iran could have used to transform uranium gas into dense metal in a process called metallization.[ii] This process is one of the last steps required to form the explosive core of an atomic bomb.[iii] The Institute for Science and International Security reported on June 24 that the plant was not operational before it was struck.[iv] Israel launched an air campaign on June 12 with the stated objective of degrading, disrupting, and removing the threat of the Iranian nuclear program.[v] The destruction of Iran’s metallization process and the loss of several Iranian nuclear scientists would hinder Iran’s ability to turn weapons-grade uranium, or 90 percent enriched uranium, into a usable nuclear weapon. The Israeli campaign has also “effectively destroyed” Iran’s enrichment capacity. [vi]  

Iran may have begun repair operations at the Natanz Enrichment Complex. Commercially available satellite imagery captured on June 27 shows that Iran has filled in a crater that was formed by US GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs. The imagery shows what appears to be two tents and a truck present at the impact site. Israeli media and open-source watchers claimed that Iran may be trying to extract enriched uranium buried at Natanz.[vii] CTP-ISW cannot independently verify this claim.

Israeli airstrikes destroyed an Iranian radar in Khuzestan Province on June 21. Commercially available satellite imagery captured on June 27 shows a destroyed Iranian radar. The radar was constructed between 2023 and 2024, according to satellite imagery.[viii] The Israeli Air Force (IAF) announced that it conducted operations against military infrastructure in southwestern Iran on June 21.[ix]

US and Israeli strikes may have targeted Iranian enriched uranium stockpiles at the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC).[x] Israel’s June 13 strike on the ENTC damaged the Tehran Reactor Fuel Manufacturing Plan (FPFP) and the Central Chemical Laboratory. The FPFP produces natural uranium metal and stored approximately 85 percent of Iran’s 20 percent enriched uranium stockpile and 83 percent of Iran’s 60 percent enriched uranium stockpile as of August 2023. It is unclear how much, if any, of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was at FPFP at the time of US and Israeli strikes. The ENTC includes several uranium conversion facilities, fuel fabrication facilities, natural and enriched uranium storage, and uranium metal production facilities. US and Israeli airstrikes on ENTC and other enrichment facilities could have buried enriched uranium underground, which would limit access to the material, but could not have destroyed the material.

Israeli strikes targeted senior Iranian military and security officials across multiple branches, likely in an effort to degrade Iran’s command and control structure. The IDF targeted Iranian Artesh personnel, including members of the Artesh Air Defense Force, during its air campaign.[xi] Iranian media confirmed on June 28 that the IDF killed 56 Artesh members, including at least three Artesh generals and 16 conscript soldiers.[xii]  The generals include 71st Mechanized Infantry Brigade Commander General Ali Hossein Mohammadi and two senior Air Defense Force officers, General Ali Piri and General Gholam Ali Najafi.[xiii]

Iranian media confirmed that the IDF killed 41 IRGC members in its June 22 strike on the IRGC Ground Forces Imam Hassan Mojtaba Provincial Unit in Karaj, Alborz Province.[xiv] CTP-ISW previously reported some of these deaths on June 23.[xv]

IRGC-affiliated media reported on June 28 that Israeli strikes killed Law Enforcement Command (LEC) Intelligence Organization Deputy Director Brigadier General Mehdi Nemati.[xvi] Nemati reportedly fought alongside former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq and Syria for several years and received the “Defender of the Shrine” veteran medal.[xvii]  Iran deployed IRGC Ground Forces, the IRGC Quds Force, intelligence services, and LEC forces to Syria to support Bashar al Assad during the Syrian Civil War.[xviii]  Nemati previously served as the head of the Prisons Protection and Intelligence Department in Fars Province.[xix] The European Union sanctioned Nemati in April 2025 for human rights violations.[xx]

Iranian Supreme Leader Adviser Ali Shamkhani called on regime officials to resolve “disputes” with the Iranian population through “mutual understanding” in an interview on June 28. Shamkhani’s interview follows earlier reports of his death during the Israel-Iran War.[xxi] Shamkhani claimed that nuclear negotiations with the United States are a “deceptive plan” that seeks to “provoke unrest” and “prepare the atmosphere inside Iran” for protests.[xxii] Shamkhani stated that foreign adversaries “wrongly assumed” that killing senior Iranian leaders would “spark a domestic riot.”[xxiii] Shamkhani’s statements come as the Iranian regime has taken steps to securitize the country since the Iran-Israel ceasefire went into effect on June 24. CTP-ISW previously assessed that these securitization efforts demonstrate that the regime is prioritizing regime security following the war.

Anti-regime media circulated videos on June 28 of two Iranian citizens complaining about energy shortages following the Iran-Israel War.[xxiv] The first citizen questioned the Iranian regime’s narrative that Iran had “triumphed” in the war when Iran continues to face frequent power outages.[xxv] The second citizen stated that Iran has returned to “normal conditions” of frequent water, power, and gas outages.[xxvi] CTP-ISW previously assessed that Israeli airstrikes on Iranian energy infrastructure would likely worsen Iran’s ongoing energy crisis, which could incite internal unrest and protests.[xxvii]

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile targeting Beer Sheva, southern Israel, on June 28.[xxviii] The IDF intercepted a missile from Yemen before it crossed into Israeli territory on June 28.[xxix] The Houthis have launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles targeting Israel since the Houthis began their campaign to enforce an economic blockade on Israel in November 2023.[xxx]