US says strikes 'degraded' Iran's nuclear programme
US says strikes 'degraded' Iran's nuclear programme
US Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea told the UN Security Council that US attacks on Iran's nuclear sites had degraded Iran's capacity to produce a nuclear weapon. Photo: Reuters
Jamie Clarke reports
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 signalled 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 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, which suggested 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."
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.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a "great victory," according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the US, according to official news agency IRNA.
Israel launched the surprise air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran, which denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities. (Reuters)
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