US hits back at accounts Iran moved enriched uranium
Trump, seeking credit for ordering the military action and then quickly announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, has lashed out angrily at media accounts of a classified report that doubted the extent of damage to Iranian nuclear sites.
Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilogram (880 pounds) of enriched uranium -- which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country.
'I can tell you, the United States had no indication that that enriched uranium was moved prior to the strikes, as I also saw falsely reported,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
'As for what's on the ground right now, it's buried under miles and miles of rubble because of the success of these strikes on Saturday evening,' she said.
Vice President JD Vance, asked about the uranium on Sunday, had sounded less definitive and said the United States would discuss the issue with Iran.
'We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel,' Vance told ABC News program 'This Week.'
The quantity of uranium had been reported by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, with which Iran is considering severing cooperation after the Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear program.
'The IAEA lost visibility on this material the moment hostilities began,' the agency's chief, Rafael Grossi, told France 2 television.
But he added: 'I don't want to give the impression that it's been lost or hidden.'
The US military said it dropped 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs -- powerful 13,600-kilogram (30,000-pound) weapons -- on three Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump has repeatedly said that the attack 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordow buried inside a mountain.
But an initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strike did not destroy key components and that Iran's nuclear program was set back only months at most.
Trump's intelligence chiefs also pushed back on Wednesday.
CIA Director John Radcliffe in a statement said that new intelligence from a 'historically reliable' source indicated that 'several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.'
The uranium is enriched to 60 percent -- above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
French detainees in Iran charged with spying for Israel
Two French nationals detained for more than three years in Iran have been charged with spying for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, diplomatic and family sources told AFP on Wednesday. They have also been charged with 'conspiracy to overthrow the regime' and 'corruption on earth,' the Western diplomatic source and the sister of Cécile Kohler, who is being detained along with Jacques Paris, told AFP. 'We have been informed of these accusations,' the diplomatic source said. 'All we know is that they have seen a judge who confirmed the three charges,' said Kohler's sister, who added that the two French nationals were still being denied access to independent lawyers. All three charges carry the death penalty. Iran had previously claimed the two had been arrested for spying but had not revealed exactly for whom. Tehran has not confirmed the new charges. 'These charges, if they are confirmed, are completely unfounded,' the French diplomatic source told AFP. 'Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris are innocent,' the source added, demanding that the pair be given access to lawyers. The news came a day after the French chargé d'affaires in Iran was able to visit the pair in prison. The fate of Kohler and Paris had been unknown since Israel targeted Tehran's Evin prison in an air strike last week, before a US-proposed ceasefire between the Middle East foes came into force. Iran's judiciary said the Israeli strike on the prison had killed at least 79 people. It also said the Iranian prison authority had transferred inmates out of Evin prison, without specifying their number or identifying them. Kohler, 40, and Paris, her 72-year-old partner, have been held in Iran since May 2022. Iran is believed to be holding around 20 European nationals — many of whose cases have never been publicized — in what some Western governments, including France, describe as a strategy of hostage-taking aimed at extracting concessions from the West. Three Europeans, who have not been identified, have also been arrested in the wake of the current conflict, two of whom are accused of spying for Israel, according to Iranian authorities.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US says Iran's suspension of cooperation with IAEA ‘unacceptable'
Iran's suspension of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is unacceptable, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Wednesday. Tehran officially suspended its cooperation with the IAEA, a move triggered by the unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities over 12 days in June. 'We'll use the word unacceptable, that Iran chose to suspend cooperation with the IAEA at a time when it has a window of opportunity to reverse course and choose a path of peace and prosperity,' Bruce told a briefing in Washington. Washington backed Israel's effort to damage Iran's nuclear program by bombing three nuclear sites overnight on June 21–22. Trump has since warned he will order more air strikes if Tehran tries to obtain nuclear weapons. The Islamic republic has always denied it was seeking to develop an atomic weapon. Bruce said Iran must cooperate without delay with the IAEA, including by providing 'information required to clarify and resolve long-standing questions regarding undeclared nuclear material in Iran, as well as provide unrestricted access to its newly announced enrichment facility.' 'Iran cannot and will not have a nuclear weapon,' she repeated.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Netanyahu vows to uproot Hamas as ceasefire proposals are discussed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to eradicate Hamas, even as the Palestinian militant group said it was discussing new proposals from mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli leader had yet to comment on US President Donald Trump's claim that Israel had backed a plan for a 60-day truce in its offensive against Hamas in the war-ravaged territory. But a week ahead of talks scheduled with Trump in Washington, he vowed to 'destroy' Hamas 'down to their very foundation.' Hamas said it was 'conducting national consultations to discuss' the proposals submitted in negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt. Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations. The civil defense agency said that Israeli forces had killed at least 47 people on Wednesday. Among the dead was Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital, a key clinic in the north of Gaza, Palestinian officials said. Trump on Tuesday urged Hamas to accept a 60-day ceasefire, saying that Israel had agreed to finalize such a deal. Hamas said in a statement that it was studying the latest proposals and aiming 'to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israeli forces from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip.' Netanyahu vowed however: 'We will free all our hostages, and we will eliminate Hamas. It will be no more,' in filmed comments in the city of Ashkelon near Gaza's northern border. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar earlier said that he saw 'some positive signs,' amid high pressure to bring home the hostages. 'We are serious in our will to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire,' he said. 'Our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible.' Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. A Palestinian source familiar with the mediated negotiations told AFP that 'there are no fundamental changes in the new proposal' under discussion compared to previous terms presented by the United States. The source said that the new proposal 'includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.' In southern Gaza, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five members of the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday that hit a tent housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area. Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes. AFP footage from the area showed makeshift tents blown apart as Palestinians picked through the wreckage trying to salvage what was left of their belongings. 'They came here thinking it was a safe area and they were killed. What did they do?' said one resident, Maha Abu Rizq, against a backdrop of destruction. AFP footage from nearby Khan Yunis city showed infants covered in blood being rushed into Nasser Hospital. One man carrying a child whose face was smeared with blood screamed: 'Children, children!' Among other fatalities, Bassal later reported five people killed by Israeli army fire near an aid distribution site close to the southern city of Rafah and a further death following Israeli fire near an aid site in the center of the territory. They were the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people trying to receive food. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it 'is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities' in line with 'international law, and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.' It said in a statement that a 19-year-old sergeant in its forces 'fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip.' The military late on Wednesday issued a fresh evacuation warning to residents for three neighborhoods of Gaza City, urging them to flee south to the Mawasi area. Israeli forces are 'operating with extreme intensity in the area and will attack any location being used to launch missiles towards the State of Israel,' Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a message on Telegram. 'The destruction of terrorist organizations will continue and expand into the city center, encompassing all neighborhoods of the city,' Avichay wrote. The military earlier said that its air force had intercepted two 'projectiles' that crossed from northern Gaza into Israeli territory. Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,012 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
