US strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites, says new report
Iran's Fordow nuclear facility was mostly destroyed, and resuming enrichment there could take two years.
WASHINGTON – A new US assessment has found that US strikes in June mostly destroyed one of three targeted Iranian nuclear sites, but the other two were not as badly damaged, NBC News reported on July 17, citing current and former US officials.
The report said US officials believe the attack on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility was successful in setting back enrichment capabilities there by as much as two years, citing two current officials.
The two other facilities that the US struck were not as badly damaged and may have been degraded only to a point where nuclear enrichment could resume in the next several months if Iran wants it to, the report added.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told NBC News in a statement: 'As the President has said and experts have verified: Operation Midnight Hammer
totally obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities.'
The chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told NBC US President Donald Trump 'was clear and the American people understand: Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz were completely and totally obliterated. There is no doubt about that'.
The US
launched strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities in June, saying they were part of a programme geared towards developing nuclear weapons. Iran maintains that its nuclear development is purely for civilian purposes.
A preliminary assessment in June from the Defence Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran's nuclear programme by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear programme was severely damaged.
According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage. REUTERS
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