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Long before turning its military might – and that of the U.S. – toward Iranian facilities, Israel was concerned over the nuclear ambitions of another country in the Middle East: Iraq.
By the early 1980s, Iraq’s nascent nuclear program was gaining steam, having recently purchased a reactor from France and installing it at a facility just south of Baghdad. The reactor was for peaceful scientific research, both countries said. And in any case, Iraq, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, was subject to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Other countries in the region weren’t convinced. Iran, at war with Iraq at the time, attacked the reactor but caused little damage. Then on June 7, 1981, it was Israel’s turn. Using American-made jets, Israel bombed the facility.
The operation was hailed as a success by Israel. But as USC Dornsife’s Jeffrey Fields explains, it may have only accelerated Iraq’s nuclear ambitions. Compelled to acquire a nuclear deterrent, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein merely pushed the program underground.
“As nuclear proliferation experts assess the extent of damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities following the recent U.S. and Israeli raids, it is worth reassessing the longer-term implications of that earlier Iraqi strike,” writes Fields.
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Matt Williams
Senior International Editor
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The Osirak nuclear power research station in 1981.
Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images
Jeffrey Fields, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Nonproliferation experts believe Iraq’s nuclear program went underground after Israel destroyed its reactor just outside Baghdad.
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Politics + Society
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Donald Heflin, Tufts University
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Gregory F. Treverton, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Arts + Culture
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Michael R. Allen, West Virginia University
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Science + Technology
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Toshi Hirabayashi, Georgia Institute of Technology
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Environment + Energy
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Stephanie Otts, University of Mississippi
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Economy + Business
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Health + Medicine
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