20210603 - The Israeli Raid Against the Iraqi Reactor - 40 Years Later: New Insights from the Archives

40 years after the Israeli Air Force launched its strike on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in Osirak, known as Operation Opera, new documents reveal how the Reagan Administration reacted to the news.

On 7 June 1981, the Israeli Air Force launched a strike against the Iraqi nuclear reactor Osirak, marking it as the first successful raid conducted against a ‘hostile’ nuclear reactor. The raid has received much attention in academic and political circles, especially in the context of the Iranian nuclear program, yet significantly, some important questions on Washington’s reaction to the raid and its impact on Reagan’s nonproliferation policy were left unanswered. We address these questions by exploring declassified documents from numerous archives in a forthcoming article in the Journal of Cold War Studies. Read more.