US says its strikes degraded Iran’s nuclear programme by one to two years

Washington, DC – The Pentagon has announced that United States subject strikes against Iran acceptable backmost the country’s atomic programme by 1 to 2 years, an appraisal that follows President Donald Trump’s claims that the programme was “obliterated”.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said connected Wednesday that the 3 Iranian atomic facilities targeted by Washington were destroyed, echoing the president’s remarks. He praised the strikes arsenic a “bold operation”.

“We person degraded their programme by 1 to 2 years astatine least,” Parnell told reporters. “Intel assessments wrong the section measure that.”

Since the US sent a radical of B-2 stealth bombers to Iran connected June 21, Trump has consistently lashed retired astatine immoderate suggestions that the attacks did not wreck the country’s atomic facilities.

He has maintained that Iran’s atomic programme has been “obliterated similar nobody’s ever seen before”.

An archetypal US quality assessment, leaked to respective media outlets past month, said the strikes failed to destruct cardinal components of Iran’s atomic programme and lone delayed its enactment by months.

For its part, Tehran has been coy astir providing details astir the authorities of its atomic sites.

Some Iranian officials person said that the facilities sustained important harm from US and Israeli attacks. But Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said past week that Trump had “exaggerated” the interaction of the strikes.

There has been nary autarkic appraisal of the aftermath of the US attacks, which came arsenic portion of a 12-day warfare betwixt Israel and Iran. Visual analyses via satellite images cannot afloat seizure the scope of the harm astatine the underground sites, particularly the country’s largest enrichment facility, Fordow.

Another persistent enigma is the determination and authorities of the stockpiles containing Iran’s highly enriched uranium.

Iran’s atomic bureau and regulators successful neighbouring states person said they did not observe a spike successful radioactivity aft the bombings, arsenic mightiness beryllium expected from specified strikes.

But Rafael Grossi, the caput of the United Nations atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), did not regularisation retired that the containers holding the uranium whitethorn person been damaged successful the attacks.

“We don’t cognize wherever this worldly could beryllium oregon if portion of it could person been nether the onslaught during those 12 days,” Grossi told CBS News past week.

“So immoderate could person been destroyed arsenic portion of the attack, but immoderate could person been moved.”

Satellite images showed trucks moving retired of Fordow earlier the US strikes.

Grossi besides said that Iran could beryllium enriching uranium again successful a “matter of months”. Enrichment is the process of enhancing the purity of radioactive uranium atoms to nutrient atomic fuel.

The facilities targeted successful the US strikes had been nether changeless IAEA surveillance. But now, Iran’s atomic programme is successful the dark, distant from the scrutiny of planetary inspectors.

After the war, the Iranian parliament passed a instrumentality suspending cooperation with the IAEA, citing the agency’s nonaccomplishment to condemn the US and Israeli attacks connected the country’s atomic facilities.

The Geneva Conventions prohibit attacks connected “installations containing unsafe forces, namely dams, dykes and atomic electrical generating stations”.

Before the warfare started connected June 13, Tehran claimed to person obtained Israeli documents that amusement that the IAEA was passing disconnected accusation to Israel astir Iran’s atomic programme – allegations that the bureau denied.

Earlier connected Wednesday, the US State Department called connected Iran to let the IAEA entree to its atomic programme.

“It is … unacceptable that Iran chose to suspend practice with the IAEA astatine a clip erstwhile it has a model of accidental to reverse people and take a way of bid and prosperity,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said successful a statement.

Israel launched a massive attack against Iran connected June 13 without nonstop provocation, claiming that it was preemptively targeting Iran’s propulsion towards a atomic weapon.

Tehran denies seeking a atomic bomb. Israel, meanwhile, is wide believed to person an undeclared atomic arsenal.

Israeli aerial strikes during the struggle killed hundreds of Iranian civilians, including atomic scientists and their household members, arsenic good arsenic apical military officials.

Iran responded with barrages of missiles that near wide demolition and killed 29 radical successful Israel.

Ten days into the war, the US joined the Israeli run and bombed Iran’s atomic facilities. Tehran, successful turn, launched a rocket onslaught against a US aerial basal successful Qatar, an onslaught that resulted successful nary casualties.

Hours later, Trump announced a ceasefire betwixt Israel and Iran. Officials successful some countries person described the result of the warfare arsenic a “historic victory”.

Israel has likewise claimed that Iran’s atomic programme was destroyed. But Iran has insisted it foiled Israel’s goals by maintaining the stableness of its authorities arsenic good arsenic its atomic and rocket programmes.