Israel Destroys Iraqi Reactor: Nuclear Threat Eliminated
Eight Israeli F-16 fighter jets, escorted by six F-15s, destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center near Baghdad on June 7, 1981, in Operation Opera. The attack lasted less than two minutes. All aircraft returned safely. The reactor, supplied by France, was weeks from going operational. Israel claimed Iraq intended to use it to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The raid was unanimously condemned by the UN Security Council, including the United States. Iraq never successfully restarted its nuclear weapons program. The strike established the Begin Doctrine: that Israel would preemptively destroy any nuclear threat in the region. Israel applied this doctrine again in 2007, destroying a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor at al-Kibar in Operation Orchard.
June 7, 1981
45 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Iraq
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nuclear reactor
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Israeli Air Force
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Osiraq
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Operation Opera
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nuclear weapons
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Israeli Air Force
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Iraq
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Nuclear reactor
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Operation Opera
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Osirak
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Israel Defense Forces
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Journée de Jérusalem
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Six-Day War
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