Early US assessment suggests strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites: Report
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A satellite view of Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant after the US struck the nuclear facility on June 21.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
- US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites likely only delayed the programme by months, despite Trump's claim of "total obliteration" (CNN).
- The assessment, by the Defence Intelligence Agency, indicates that centrifuges and enriched uranium stockpiles were not fully destroyed (CNN).
- The White House dismissed the CNN report, calling the leaked "top secret" assessment "flat-out wrong" (Karoline Leavitt, X).
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WASHINGTON – An early intelligence assessment indicated that the US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of Tehran’s nuclear programme and likely set it back by only months, CNN reported on June 24, citing three people briefed on it.
After days of deliberation, US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites
US President Donald Trump said Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities had been completely and “totally obliterated”, an assertion he has since repeated.
While more than a dozen bombs were dropped on two of the nuclear facilities – the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Natanz Enrichment Complex – they did not fully eliminate the sites’ centrifuges and highly enriched uranium, CNN reported, quoting people familiar with the early assessment.
Citing two people familiar with the assessment, CNN reported that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had not been destroyed.
It said the assessment was produced by the Defence Intelligence Agency – the US Pentagon’s intelligence arm – and is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by the US Central Command after the US strikes.
The report by the Defence Intelligence Agency estimated that the programme was delayed by less than six months, the New York Times said in another report.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the CNN report in a social media post.
“This alleged ‘assessment’ is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN,” she said on social media platform X. REUTERS
