US strikes failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites-sources
WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/ISTANBUL — US airstrikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability and only set it back by a few months, according to a preliminary US intelligence assessment, as a shaky ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump took hold between Iran and Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday, both Iran and Israel signaled that the air war between the two nations had ended, at least for now, after Trump publicly scolded them for violating a ceasefire he announced at 0500 GMT.
As the two countries lifted civilian restrictions after 12 days of war — which the US joined with an attack on Iran’s uranium-enrichment facilities — each sought to claim victory.
Trump said over the weekend that the US deployment of 30,000-pound bombs had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
But that claim appeared to be contradicted by an initial assessment by one of his administration’s intelligence agencies, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Not eliminated
One of the sources said Iran’s enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and the country’s nuclear program, much of which is buried deep underground, may have been set back only a month or two.
Iran says its nuclear research is for civilian energy production.
The White House said the intelligence assessment was “flat out wrong.”
According to the report, which was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities, but did not collapse underground buildings, said one of the people familiar with its findings.
Some centrifuges still remained intact after the attacks, the Washington Post said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the report.
Trump’s administration told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that its weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had “degraded” Iran’s nuclear program, short of Trump’s earlier assertion that the facilities had been “obliterated.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the attack on Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its weapons program.
‘Great victory’
“We have removed two immediate existential threats to us: the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles,” Netanyahu said.
Trump told Congress on Monday that the Iranian sites bombed by the US housed a “nuclear weapons development program,” even though U.S. spy agencies have said no such program existed.
Trump’s claim raised questions whether US intelligence backed up his decision to order the strikes on Iran on Sunday.
The Republican president made the assertion in a letter dated Monday to House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a key ally, and it was posted on the White House’s website.
“United States forces conducted a precision strike against three nuclear facilities in Iran used by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its nuclear weapons development program,” Trump wrote.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a “great victory.” Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the United States
