ANALYSIS

Israeli attacks dealt Iran nuclear program major setback, expert says

Physicist and weapons expert David Albright said on Monday that Israeli attacks had stopped Iran's nuclear program "cold" in the short term and delayed its ability to potentially build a nuclear weapon.

"The strikes have lengthened the timeline to build the bomb," Albright, the founder of the non-governmental Institute for Science and International Security told the PBS Newshour.

"In the short term, they've really stopped the program cold and started to break up or destroy key parts of it, the parts that you need in order to build the bomb itself," he added. "On the weaponization side, they're lengthening the time frame to build the bomb and undoing the progress Iran has been making,"

Albright called the lack of apparent damage to the underground Fordow site "perplexing."

"On the weapons-grade uranium side, they really haven't finished the job at all. They have not destroyed Fordow or even made it inoperative."