Dirty Bomb’ Attack: This Could Be Iran’s Next Move Against Israel
By
Michael Rubin
National Security Journal
June 15, 2025
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Key Points – As Israel’s conventional strikes degrade Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure, the risk grows that a desperate Iranian regime could retaliate with radiological “dirty bombs” against Israeli cities.
- While Israel’s attack may have preempted the completion of a fissile nuclear weapon, Iran possesses large stockpiles of highly enriched uranium that could be dispersed to cause widespread contamination.
- This threat makes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in his role as commander-in-chief, a legitimate military target.
- The US, in turn, should use information operations to directly warn and deter any Iranian official involved in preparing such a weapon.
Israel Could Have a New Iran Problem: A ‘Dirty Bomb’
The
Islamic Republic continues to fire missiles at
Israel. Israel and its allies shoot down most, but a few
continue to
get through.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continues to vow revenge. “Israel has prepared a bitter fate for itself, which it will surely receive,” he
announced.
His time is running out. Israel’s strikes into Iran are more precise and effective than
Iran’s missile and drone barrages. Every Iranian launch exposes batteries and launch sites Israel then targets.
While Israel can continue its
air and missile strikes to degrade the regime’s nuclear and military sites and eliminate its leadership, the
Iranian military essentially flails ineffectively.
What Will Iran Do Next?
As Khamenei and his Islamic Republic grow more desperate, the international community should brace for Khamenei’s attempt to make good on his threat.
The Iranian barrages so far demonstrate that despite repeated statements by Iranian diplomats like former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the goal of Iran’s arsenal was always Israel’s eradication; there was little “duel” in the regime’s duel use work.
Khamenei is 86-years-old and now among the last of his generation of revolutionary officials; he wants to see his life’s work achieved in the next days.
There is little doubt that the Islamic Republic has a huge stockpile of uranium, in quantities and with enrichment levels far beyond what it would need for either a civilian nuclear energy program or medical purposes.
The U.S. government erred when it arbitrarily defined Iran’s nuclear weapons capability as achieving 20 kilograms of 90 percent enriched uranium.
Essentially, the intelligence community twisted its intelligence by using an arbitrary definition to deny Iranian goals and achievements.
In reality,
nuclear weapons can have great destruction at enrichment levels below 90 percent. The uranium in the “Little Boy” bomb dropped on Hiroshima, for example, had an average enrichment level of 80 percent, a level Iranian scientists had already achieved.
The Dirty Bomb Nightmare
Israel may have struck Iran before it could build a fissile nuclear weapon, but the Islamic Republic can still cause tremendous destruction short of a nuclear explosion. If Khamenei wants to make good on his threats, his next step will likely be to hit Israel with dirty bombs to spread radiation over large sections of its urban areas.
The same strategy would satisfy Khamenei’s desire for revenge against Arab states that help Israel. After all, if
Jordan shoots down a missile with a radioactive warhead over its own territory, then the resulting radiation contamination it suffered would be, from Khamenei’s perspective, divine retribution.
