US strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites, early assessment suggests
An early intelligence assessment indicated that the US military strikes on three of Iran's nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of Tehran's nuclear programme and probably only set it back by months, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing three people briefed on it.
After days of deliberation, US forces struck Iran's three main nuclear sites on Saturday. US President Donald Trump said Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities had been completely and 'totally obliterated', an assertion he has since repeated.
While over a dozen bombs were dropped on two of the nuclear facilities, the Fordow Fuel Enrichment plant and the Natanz Enrichment Complex, they did not fully eliminate the sites' centrifuges and highly enriched uranium, CNN reported, citing people familiar with the early assessment.
Citing two people familiar with the assessment, CNN reported that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium had not been destroyed.
It said the assessment was produced by the Defence Intelligence Agency – the Pentagon's intelligence arm – and is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by the US Central Command after the strikes.
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What's known about the 3 Iranian nuclear sites hit by US bunker-buster bombs
What's known about the 3 Iranian nuclear sites hit by US bunker-buster bombs
The report by the Defence Intelligence Agency estimated that the programme was delayed less than six months, The New York Times said in another report.
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