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Asharq Al-Awsat
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iranian Nuclear Program Degraded by up to Two Years, Pentagon Says
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran's nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the US military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public. Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was "probably closer to two years." Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment. "We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department (of Defense) assess that," Parnell told a news briefing. US military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound (13,600-kg) bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles. The evolving US intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran's program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday's briefing. Such conclusions often take the US intelligence community weeks or more to determine. "All of the intelligence that we've seen (has) led us to believe that Iran's -- those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated," Parnell said. Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran's nuclear program have been. Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it. But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes. A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran's nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage. "No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged," Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Pentagon said on Wednesday that U.S. strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran's nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the U.S. military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public. Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was "probably closer to two years." Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment. "We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department (of Defense) assess that," Parnell told a news briefing. U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound (13,600-kg) bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles. The evolving U.S. intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran's program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday's briefing. Such conclusions often take the U.S. intelligence community weeks or more to determine. "All of the intelligence that we've seen (has) led us to believe that Iran's -- those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated," Parnell said. Over the weekend, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective U.S. strikes to destroy Tehran's nuclear program have been. Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it. But U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from U.S. strikes. A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran's nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage. "No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged," Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.
Reuters
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
G7 urges talks to resume for deal on Iran nuclear program
WASHINGTON/OTTAWA, June 30 (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations said on Monday they supported the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and urged for negotiations to resume for a deal to address Iran's nuclear program, according to a joint statement. Since April, Iran and the U.S. have held talks aimed at finding a new diplomatic solution regarding Iran's nuclear program. Tehran says its program is peaceful and Israel and its allies say they want to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon. "We call for the resumption of negotiations, resulting in a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran's nuclear program," the G7 foreign ministers said. Last week, Trump announced a ceasefire between U.S. ally Israel and its regional rival Iran to halt a war that began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran. The Israel-Iran conflict had raised alarms in a region already on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. Before the ceasefire was announced, Washington struck Iran's nuclear sites and Iran targeted a U.S. base in Qatar in retaliation. The G7 foreign ministers said they urged "all parties to avoid actions that could further destabilize the region." U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff has said talks between Washington and Tehran were "promising" and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal. The G7 top diplomats denounced threats against the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday, after a hardline Iranian newspaper said IAEA boss Rafael Grossi should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent. On June 12, the U.N. nuclear watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Israel is the only Middle Eastern country believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, says it has "no credible indication" of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Fox News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Expert reacts to Iran's assessment of damage to nuclear sites
As the total damage to three Iranian nuclear sites continues to be assessed, one Middle East expert says that Iran's stated assessment only reinforces U.S. and Israeli views. Israel, which has said the strikes set the Iranian nuclear program back years, has the greatest resources in place to make a determination and the most incentive to get the facts right, Jacob Olidort, director of the Center of American Security at the America First Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital. "Both the US and Israel say they achieved their objectives," Olidort said. "Israel presumably had planned around this for many years, and Israel says it has met its objectives, which is destroying Iran's ability to enrich uranium." The U.S. launched a surprise strike using B-2 stealth bombers and bunker-buster bombs on Iran's Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities on Saturday. Some media reports have pushed back on the Trump administration's claims that the sites were destroyed and set Iran back years in its quest to achieve a nuclear weapon. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Wednesday told Al Jazeera that "our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure," though he refused to go into detail. Olidort said that "everything Iran is doing now is to save face." "We should never take anything Iran says at face value, but their assessment can only reinforce the views of Israel and the U.S. view," he said. The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi, reiterated on Thursday that the damage done by Israeli and U.S. strikes at Iranian nuclear facilities "is very, very, very considerable." "I think annihilated is too much, but it suffered enormous damage," Grossi told French broadcaster RFI.
Bloomberg
25-06-2025
- General
- Bloomberg
US Sees Limited Damage to Iran Atomic Sites as UN Watchdog Urges Inspections
Updated on Save American airstrikes had only a limited impact on Iran's nuclear program, according to early US intelligence findings, as the United Nations watchdog urged fresh inspection of the sites. A report by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency said the bombing likely didn't cripple the core components of Iran's program below ground, including its centrifuges, according to people familiar with the assessments.
