Trump says Iran had no time to move enriched uranium before US strike

Israeli and American airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facility in Isfahan destroyed equipment critical to the production of nuclear weapons, The New York Times reported.

The targeted equipment is used in a process known as metallization, which converts enriched uranium gas into metal, one of the final steps in producing the explosive core of a nuclear bomb, the report said.

According to analysts quoted by The New York Times, the strikes on the metallization infrastructure have deprived the Islamic Republic of the ability to assemble a nuclear weapon in the near future.

State-sponsored ceremonies for 60 Iranian military personnel, commanders, and nuclear scientists killed in the war with Israel were held in Tehran on Saturday, amid the notable absence of any reports or images showing Ali Khamenei leading funeral prayers.

In recent years, Khamenei has personally led funeral prayers for many mid- and high-ranking commanders of the Islamic Republic killed in military conflicts.

Since the start of the war with Israel, he has been moved to an underground bunker, and aside from three pre-recorded video messages, no images or reports of his presence at public events or above ground have been released.

Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development announced on Saturday that the suspension of domestic and international flights in the northern, southern, and western regions of the country has been extended until 2 p.m. Sunday, despite the ceasefire in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

In addition to the eastern half of the country’s airspace, which remains open for domestic, international, and overflight routes, Iran has now reopened its central and western airspace to international overflights, a spokesperson for the ministry said.

A cardboard cutout of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was displayed at Saturday’s funeral in Tehran alongside images of two deceased figures, former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini and late President Ebrahim Raisi, according to photos published by the state media.

Khamenei has not made a public appearance since the start of the conflict with Israel and has only released three video messages.

President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked the public on Saturday for their participation in the funeral procession for those killed in the Israeli conflict, saying the ceremony sent “the sound of our unity” across the world.

“You accompanied the martyrs of the homeland with love,” he wrote on X. “We have learned not to surrender to humiliation or bow to oppression.”