US strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites - NBC
Just one of the three nuclear facilities struck by the US in Iran last month has been destroyed, according to a report by NBC News citing current and former US officials.
Just one of the three nuclear facilities struck by the US in Iran last month has been destroyed, according to a report by NBC News citing current and former US officials.
The latest assessment, which showed that Fordow was set back as long as two years, was briefed to US lawmakers, Defense Department officials and allied countries in recent days.
NBC also reported that an initial plan presented to US President Donald Trump involved three more sites, but the operation would have taken weeks, leading him to scale back the scope due to the risk of casualties on both sides and the fact that it was at odds with his foreign policy to extract the US from conflicts abroad.
“We were willing to go all the way in our options, but the president did not want to,” one of the sources with knowledge of the plan said.
The US strikes targeted three enrichment sites in Iran, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Trump was quick to call the strikes “a spectacular military success” and said, “Iran’s key enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."
Israel has not ruled out further attacks on the two less damaged sites. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News last week that “it’s not over”.
Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state enriching uranium to 60% U-235, a level that causes "serious concern," according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
The IAEA has consistently maintained that there is no credible civilian use for uranium enriched to this level, which is a short technical step from weapons-grade 90% fissile material.
Iran has always said its nuclear program is purely for peaceful, civilian purposes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.
A former top UN nuclear official told Eye for Iran podcast that a nuclear Iran is still possible despite US and Israeli strikes on key nuclear sites as the whereabouts of Tehran's near-weapons grade uranium remains unknown.
Around 400 kilograms—more than 900 pounds—of uranium enriched to 60% purity is unaccounted for and now with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) barred from the country, it is unsure if the location can ever be known.
Former Deputy Director General of the IAEA, Olli Heinonen, warned: “One should not relax because this material as such is enough for 10 nuclear weapons if it is enriched further to 90%. So in a big picture, yes, Mr Trump was correct, but it should have had this caveat that it's not yet over.”
