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'Nothing was taken': US President Donald Trump insists all Iranian nuclear materials destroyed, despite speculation some was moved

'Nothing was taken': US President Donald Trump insists all Iranian nuclear materials destroyed, despite speculation some was moved

Sky News AU4 hours ago

United States President Donald Trump has insisted "nothing" was removed from Iran's nuclear facilities prior to strikes from American bombers.
Posting to social media following a fiery press conference by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, President Trump moved to shut down speculation nuclear materials had been taken from Iran's Fordow site prior the the attacks.
"Nothing was taken out of (the) facility," he wrote.
"Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!"
The President and others in his administration have repeatedly insisted all of Iran's nuclear assets were "obliterated" by US strikes, although the International Atomic Energy Agency has raised concerns over almost half a tonne of enriched uranium it says remains unaccounted for.
Watch all the live coverage and analysis from our hosts and experts amid the escalating Israel-Iran conflict with a SkyNews.com.au Streaming Subscription.

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BlackRock calls defence tech the next 'mega force' as NATO shifts into rearm mode
BlackRock calls defence tech the next 'mega force' as NATO shifts into rearm mode

News.com.au

time35 minutes ago

  • News.com.au

BlackRock calls defence tech the next 'mega force' as NATO shifts into rearm mode

NATO lifts defence spend to 5% after fiery Hague summit BlackRock says defence tech is the new mega-force DroneShield's $61m Euro deal ignites ASX defence run A few summers ago it would have sounded bonkers, but here we are: NATO leaders have just agreed to jack up their collective defence spending target to 5% of GDP (from a previous target of 2%). Inked during a white-knuckle summit in The Hague on Wednesday, the pledge is an all-out gear shift, a sign the West is rearming for a world that feels like it's cracking at the edges. There was no shortage of drama. Trump arrived at the meeting floating his usual lines about freeloading Europeans and asking what America's getting in return. But by the end, after closed-door huddles and some diplomacy, he changed tune: 'It's not a rip-off. We're here to help them protect their countries.' And while Trump's claiming victory, it's also a win for Europe and especially for NATO's new secretary general Mark Rutte, who had apparently spent months quietly stitching this together. The NATO alliance, once rattled and rusty, is now bracing for a far more contested world than the one it thought it was defending a decade ago. The Russia-Ukraine war has basically rewired its mindset. Germany, once shy about spending on tanks and missiles, now wants to build Europe's most powerful military. Sure, not everyone's on board. Spain and Slovakia are already whining about affordability. BlackRock all-in on defence No surprise then that BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, is getting more bullish about the defence sector. In its latest market outlook, the BlackRock Investment Institute called defence one of the defining 'mega forces' reshaping global markets right now. Not just because of war, but because of how war is evolving: AI, drones, and cyber strikes. 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Pentagon releases jaw-dropping footage showing how 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs work
Pentagon releases jaw-dropping footage showing how 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs work

News.com.au

timean hour ago

  • News.com.au

Pentagon releases jaw-dropping footage showing how 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs work

The Pentagon released stunning footage on Thursday showcasing exactly how 30,000-pound heavy-duty bunker-buster bombs work such as the ones used against Iran's nuclear sites demolished fortified targets deep underground. The video showed a GBU-57 series MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) crashing into a target and kicking up a massive plume of dust moments before a blinding inferno appeared in a shaft during a test detonation. Pilots who dropped the MOPs on Iran called the blast 'the brightest explosion' they ever saw, saying, 'it literally looked like daylight'. The MOPs used in the strike — which can only be dropped by a B-2 Stealth Bomber — were developed in 2009 after the US learned of the existence of the Fordow uranium enrichment plant. 'Unlike a normal surface bomb, you won't see an impact crater because they're designed to deeply bury and then function,' Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Caine explained to reporters during a press briefing on Thursday. 'All six weapons at each vent at Fordow [uranium enrichment plant] went exactly where they were intended to go.' Another angle displayed during the briefing showed an MOP hitting a target in slow motion and cutting through the arched interior of a second ventilation shaft without detonating as it moved its way deeper through the test facility. 'A bomb has three effects that causes damage: blast, fragmentation and overpressure,' he explained. 'In this case, the primary kill mechanisms in the mission space was a mix of overpressure and blast. 'Imagine what this looks like six times over.'

Khamenei says US ‘exaggerated', Hegseth claims obliteration
Khamenei says US ‘exaggerated', Hegseth claims obliteration

Perth Now

timean hour ago

  • Perth Now

Khamenei says US ‘exaggerated', Hegseth claims obliteration

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has used his first public comments since the ceasefire with Israel to declare that Tehran's strike on a US base in Qatar was a direct affront to America, while dismissing the impact of recent US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. In a recorded video aired on state television, Mr Khamenei appeared for the first time since June 19, visibly weary and speaking in a hoarse voice. The 86-year-old leader, who had not been seen publicly since taking shelter during the conflict, delivered a speech laced with warnings and threats toward the US and Israel. The more-than 10 minute speech by the supreme leader was filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel. He played down Sunday's US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites using bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles, saying that US President Donald Trump - who said the attack 'completely and fully obliterated Iran's nuclear program - had 'exaggerated' its impact. 'They could not achieve anything significant,' he said. However, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi, reiterated on Thursday that the damage done by Israeli and US 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. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, on Wednesday also conceded that 'our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure'. Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has sharply contradicted any suggestion that Iran's nuclear program remains largely intact, insisting at a Pentagon press conference that the recent US air strikes had 'destroyed' or 'decimated' Iran's nuclear capabilities. 'You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated, choose your word, this was a historically successful attack,' Mr Hegseth declared. He criticised media outlets for reporting on leaked preliminary intelligence that suggested the strikes set back Iran's program by only a few months, calling such reporting an insult to US pilots and intelligence officials. Mr Hegseth also cited assessments from Israel's atomic agency, the CIA, and the UN, though UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi had separately noted the possibility that Iran had moved much of its enriched uranium before the attack. The FBI has launched an investigation into the leak of the preliminary intelligence assessment. Mr Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists. Following Sunday's US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump was able to help negotiate a ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday. Mr Khamenei claimed the US had only intervened in the war because 'it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed'. 'It entered the war to save them, yet it gained nothing,' he said. He said his country's attack on the US base in Qatar on Monday was significant, since it showed Iran 'has access to important US centres in the region and can act against them whenever it deems necessary'. 'The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America's face,' he said, adding 'this action can be repeated in the future'. 'Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,' he said. Since the ceasefire, life has been gradually returning to normal in Iran. On Thursday, Iran partially reopened its airspace, which had been shut down since the war broke out, and shops in the capital of Tehran began to reopen, with traffic returning to the streets. Earlier this week, Tehran said 606 people had been killed in the conflict in Iran, with 5332 people wounded. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group released figures on Wednesday suggesting Israeli strikes on Iran had killed at least 1054 and wounded 4476. The group said 417 of those killed were civilians and 318 were security forces. At least 28 people were killed in Israel and more than 1000 wounded, according to officials there. Trump has also asserted that American and Iranian officials will talk next week, giving rise to cautious hope for longer-term peace. Iran has not acknowledged any such talks would take place, though US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. A sixth round of US-Iran negotiations was scheduled for earlier this month in Oman but was cancelled after Israel attacked Iran on June 13. Iran has insisted it will not give up its nuclear program. Trump said 'Sure' on Wednesday when asked if the US would strike again if Iran rebuilt its nuclear enrichment program. - with Reuters and AP

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