Israel says ‘still early' to assess damage to Iran nuclear sites
JERUSALEM: Israel's military said on Wednesday it was 'still early' to assess the damage caused to Iran's nuclear programme after US intelligence services reportedly concluded that American strikes set it back by just a few months.
'It is still early to assess the results of the operation,' Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised press conference, a day after a ceasefire ended 12 days of war between the longtime foes.
'I believe we have delivered a significant hit to the nuclear programme, and I can also say that we have delayed it by several years,' he said.
The head of Israel's military, Eyal Zamir, also said late Tuesday that Israel and the US had set back Iran's nuclear programme 'by years'.
But a classified preliminary US intelligence report concluded that the American strikes with bunker-busting bombs on Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend had delayed the programme by just a few months.
US media on Tuesday cited people familiar with the Defense Intelligence Agency findings as saying the American strikes did not fully eliminate Iran's centrifuges or stockpile of enriched uranium.
The strikes sealed off entrances to some facilities without destroying underground buildings, according to the report.
Israel had said its bombing campaign, which began on June 13, was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that 'we have thwarted Iran's nuclear project'.
US President Donald Trump claimed after the US strikes that the Iranian programme had been 'totally obliterated.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Trump considers more Patriots for Ukraine, says Putin "has to end" the war
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting on the sidelines of NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. THE HAGUE (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump indicated on Wednesday he will consider providing more of the Patriot missiles that Ukraine needs to defend against mounting Russian strikes, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin "really has to end that war". His remarks came after a 50-minute meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague. Both leaders described it as a positive step in a conflict that Trump described as "more difficult than other wars". During a press conference in which he celebrated his own diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, Trump said the Patriots were "very hard to get" but that "we are going to see if we can make some of them available". Zelenskiy mentioned air-defence systems but it was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to more missiles or complete batteries. Trump also left open the possibility of providing more military aid to Kyiv, which has suffered grinding Russian advances on the battlefield in recent months. He had previously shown no sign of resuming the donations of weaponry to Ukraine that his predecessor Joe Biden had instituted after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Asked directly whether the U.S. would contribute more funding to Ukraine's defence this year, Trump said: "As far as money going, we'll see what happens." The U.S.-made Patriot batteries are critical to shooting down the Russian ballistic missiles that have increasingly rained on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. Dozens of people have been killed over the past week on the capital Kyiv and the southeastern regional capital of Dnipro. Zelenskiy said before Wednesday's meeting that Ukraine was willing to buy more Patriots if the U.S. was unwilling to donate them. He said the talks with Trump were "long and substantive". "Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers," Zelenskiy wrote on X. "We also discussed the potential for co-production of drones. We can strengthen each other." Trump added that he would soon speak once more with Putin, adding: "Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war." MORE FORMAL LOOK FOR ZELENSKIY Zelenskiy wore a dark, suit-style jacket to the meeting, in contrast to the more informal military-style garb he was criticised for wearing at a disastrous White House meeting with Trump in February. He has since worked to rebuild relations with the Trump administration, whose overtures to Russia have concerned Kyiv. However, he had to settle for attending the pre-summit dinner on Tuesday evening rather than the main meeting on Wednesday, which backed the big NATO-wide increase in defence spending that Trump had demanded. Unlike last year, this year's summit declaration contained no mention of future NATO membership for Ukraine. While the statement denounced what it called the long-term threat posed by Russia to European and Atlantic security, it did not directly blame Russia for the invasion, as previous declarations have. (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk, Jeff Mason and Katharine Jackson; writing by Dan Peleschuk; editing by Alison Williams, Alexandra Hudson, Mark Heinrich and Kevin Liffey)
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- New Straits Times
China's 'inaction' eroding leverage
China has been able to do little more than stand back and watch as war between its key partner Iran and Israel harms its hard-fought leverage in the Middle East, say analysts. Beijing has sought to frame itself as a mediator in the region, facilitating a 2023 rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran and portraying itself as a more neutral actor in the Israel-Palestinian conflict than its rival the United States. And its position as the largest purchaser of Iranian oil has served as a crucial lifeline for Teheran as its economy is battered by crippling international sanctions. But as Israel and Iran engaged in an unprecedented exchange of attacks and the US struck key targets on Iranian soil in the past week, Beijing has offered little beyond calls for de-escalation. "Beijing has offered Teheran no real help — just rhetoric that paints China as the principled alternative while it stays safely on the sidelines," said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies think tank. China, he said, "sticks to rhetoric — condemnations, United Nations (UN) statements, talk of 'dialogue' — because over-promising and under-delivering would spotlight its power-projection limits". "The result is a conspicuously thin response that underscores how little real heft China brings to Iran when the shooting starts." China — alongside its "no limits" partner Russia — has long been a key backer of Iran, deepening ties in the wake of the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in 2018. President Xi Jinping described relations as "strategic" in a 2023 meeting with Iran's then-president Ebrahim Raisi, and backed Teheran in its fight against "bullying". Liu Qiang, a retired Chinese senior colonel, was even more explicit in an article on the academic website Aisixiang this month. "Iran's survival is a matter of China's national security," said the director of the Academic Committee of the Shanghai International Centre for Strategic Studies. Beijing, he insisted, must take "proactive measures" in light of the recent war to ensure that Teheran "will not be broken by the military conflict" or "jointly strangled by the US and Israel". Analysts say Beijing's ties with Teheran are central to its efforts to ensure a regional counterbalance against both the US and Israel as well as the Gulf States. "Iran fits into Beijing's broader campaign to counterbalance US-led hegemony and to a lesser extent Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) encroachment," said Tuvia Gering, non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. Those efforts have gone into overdrive following blows to other "Axis of resistance" players since the start of the Gaza war — the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad's rule in Syria and the degradation of Hamas and Hizbollah in fighting with Israel. "Beijing has sought to prevent a total unravelling of Iran's regional role," said Gering, pointing to Chinese efforts to resurrect the nuclear deal. China condemned recent US strikes on Iran and called for parties in the region, "especially Israel", to de-escalate. And it has called for a political solution to help a declared ceasefire hold. Fighting last month between India and Pakistan saw Beijing furnish its long-time allies in Islamabad with state-of-the-art military gear. Analysts don't expect China to extend the same courtesy to its comrades in Teheran, given the risk of direct confrontation with the US. "Iran needs more than statements at the UN or missile components," said Andrea Ghiselli, a lecturer at the University of Exeter. "It needs air defences and fighter jets, which are things that China could provide but would require much time to be put into use — not to mention the likely extremely negative reaction by Israel and, especially now that it directly involves the US," he added. The US has urged China to use its influence on Iran to help deter its leaders from shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas. But Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow with the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Programme, was sceptical that Beijing has the leverage. "China's position in the Middle East after this conflict" has been badly affected, he said.
New Straits Times
4 hours ago
- New Straits Times
With Iran, risk-taker Trump places his biggest bet yet
Like the casino owner he once was, President Donald Trump has shown an appetite for risk during the first months of his administration. The United States airstrike on Iran, however, may represent Trump's largest gamble yet. For now, Trump appears to have won his bet that he could limit US involvement and force the parties to a ceasefire. "He wagered," said Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East and North Africa practice at Eurasia Group. "Things went his way." It remains to be seen whether the ceasefire will hold. Early on Tuesday, Trump expressed frustration that Israel had launched an attack on Teheran hours after the president had declared a break in the hostilities. If the agreement doesn't stick - or if Iran ultimately retaliates militarily or economically, Trump risks fragmenting the America First coalition that helped power him back into office by rendering what his movement stands for increasingly nebulous and ill-defined. "If six months from now, Iran continues to be a problem, it will grind down the MAGA coalition," said Chris Stirewalt, a political analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Trump, in a sense, had already diluted the MAGA brand, Stirewalt said, by doing what he swore on the campaign trail he wouldn't: involve the US in another conflict in the Middle East. And Trump's messaging may already show the challenges that could be faced with winning approval from his base. Last Thursday, Trump said he would take as long as two weeks to determine whether the US would join the war on Israel's side, arguing the time was needed to lower the temperature. Instead, two days later, he approved the bomber run, not only likely catching the Iranians off guard but many Americans as well. His choice to hit Iran could also pose problems for whichever Republican tries to claim his mantle in the next presidential election. "In 2028, the question of foreign intervention will be a dividing line. It will be a litmus test as people struggle to define what MAGA is," Stirewalt said. The White House largely left it to Vice-President JD Vance, one of the most isolationist members of the administration, to defend the Iranian strike on a Sunday news programme. Iran has not been the only example of where Trump has bet big and the payoff remains elusive. His on-again-off-again use of tariffs has sparked uncertainty in markets and stoked inflation fears. His efforts to slash the government bureaucracy have lost momentum with the departure of Elon Musk from his circle of advisers. His hardline immigration push sparked protests across the country. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, and conducted before the ceasefire was announced, showed that only 36 per cent of those surveyed supported the strikes against Iran's nuclear programme. Overall, Trump's approval rating fell to 41 per cent, a new low for his second term. His foreign policy received even lower marks. Dave Hopkins, an expert on US politics at Boston College, said that Trump neglected to make a case in advance to the American people that the strike was in the country's interests. "We have not seen discussion of Iran as a major enemy of the US or a threat to the US," said Hopkins. Trump's boast that he had forced a ceasefire was part of a pattern, he added. As a candidate, Trump promised he could end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, but has since discovered he cannot bend Moscow and Tel Aviv to his will. In fact, in striking Iran, Trump followed Israel's lead, not vice versa. The strike fits with how Trump has approached his second term, with a willingness to govern in broad strokes and act boldly without widespread public backing. He does not need to worry about facing voters again and works with a largely compliant Republican-controlled Congress. Political payback might not happen immediately, said Allison Stanger, a political scientist at Middlebury College, but could come in the form of continued civic unrest in America or Democratic gains in next year's midterm elections. "Trump's political risk isn't immediate escalation," Stanger said. "It's the slow burn of resentment he has built across multiple fronts, both foreign and domestic."
