Latest news with #Natanz
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon dismisses report that US strike on Iran only destroyed 1 nuclear site
The Trump administration is pressing back on a new intelligence assessment, first reported by NBC News, that contradicts President Trump's repeated assertions that U.S. airstrikes 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear facilities last month. Citing five current and former U.S. officials familiar with the latest assessment, NBC News reported Thursday that Iran's Fordow nuclear enrichment site was mostly destroyed in the U.S. military operation, while two others — Isfahan and Natanz — may have only been set back by months and could resume operations. 'The credibility of the Fake News Media is similar to that of the current state of the Iranian nuclear facilities: destroyed, in the dirt, and will take years to recover,' Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to The Hill's sister network NewsNation on Thursday. 'President Trump was clear and the American people understand: Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz were completely and totally obliterated.' 'There is no doubt about that,' he added. The White House also pushed back on the latest NBC News report. 'As the President has said and experts have verified, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities,' deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told NewsNation. 'America and the world are safer thanks to his decisive action.' Reports first surfaced last month, shortly after the U.S. launched its surprise attacks on Tehran's nuclear sites, that U.S. intelligence officials at the Defense Department found that the attacks did not destroy Iran's nuclear infrastructure. The president and his allies forcefully pushed back on that assessment. NBC News reported that American and Israeli leaders have since discussed whether additional strikes on two less-damaged facilities could be necessary if Iran does not restart negotiations on a nuclear deal. The U.S. launched its Operation Midnight Hammer on the three key nuclear facilities on June 21 as Tehran and Israel traded airstrikes. The Israel-Iran conflict halted the U.S.'s efforts to reach an agreement with Tehran to prohibit the country from developing a nuclear weapon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump threatens to bomb Iran again if it builds new nuclear plants
Donald Trump has warned Iran that he will bomb the country again if it tries to resume its nuclear programme. The US president claimed it would take 'years' to bring the sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan back into service and promised to 'obliterate' any new nuclear sites Iran may try and build. In a post on his Truth Social site sent from his golf club near Washington, he claimed all three of Tehran's nuclear sites had been destroyed after the US dropped 14 30,000lb GBU-57 'bunker buster' bombs on them. 'It would take years to bring them back into service and, if Iran wanted to do so, they would be much better off starting anew, in three different locations, prior to those sites being obliterated, should they decide to do so,' he said before ending with his trademark signoff. 'Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Mr Trump has endured a difficult week, fending off criticism from his supporters about his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and the embarrassing revelation that he allegedly sent a lewd message and drawing to the billionaire financier in 2003, before he was convicted of sex offences. On Thursday, the White House said the swelling in Mr Trump's legs was caused by chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which veins have trouble moving blood back to the heart. On Saturday, he pivoted back to one of the major successes of his presidency so far: Operation Midnight Hammer, when B-2 bombers struck Iran's nuclear sites without Iran firing a shot in defence. Mr Trump claims the Iranian programme was 'totally obliterated'. But a recent assessment by US intelligence suggested that only the underground site at Fordow was completely destroyed. Two other sites, at Natanz and Isfahan, may not have been dealt a knockout blow, according to officials who briefed NBC News last week. Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, dismissed the report. He said: 'The credibility of the Fake News Media is similar to that of the current state of the Iranian nuclear facilities: destroyed, in the dirt, and will take years to recover.' There have also been questions about whether the lead-up to the strikes on June 21 allowed Iran enough time to move highly enriched uranium to secret locations. For example, 16 lorries were spotted lining up outside Fordow ahead of the attacks. A possible destination was Pickaxe mountain, Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, which is 90 miles south of Fordow, and minutes away from Natanz in central Isfahan province. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iranian officials refused to answer questions about what was happening at the fortified, underground facility. He said: 'Since it is obvious it is in a place where numerous and important activities related to the programme are taking place, we're asking them, 'What is this for?' And they are telling us, 'It's none of your business.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Devastating Intel Leak Obliterates Trump's Iran Bombing Claims
Two of the three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites that the United States bombed in June could be operational again within a few months. Despite President Donald Trump's repeated insistence that the strikes had 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program, the facilities in Natanz and Isfahan could resume nuclear enrichment in the next several months, sources told NBC News. Only the nuclear facility in Fordow was mostly destroyed, setting back work by as much as two years, according to NBC. Officials knew even before the strikes that the structures at Natanz and Isfahan were buried so deeply they were probably beyond the reach of even the massive 'bunker buster' bomb capable of penetrating Fordow's underground facilities, NBC reported. The U.S. dropped the 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker busters at Fordow and Natanz, but not at Isfahan, where officials relied on Tomahawk missiles to destroy surface targets. In order to 'truly decimate' Iran's nuclear capabilities, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, who heads U.S. Central Command, came up with an alternative plan that would have involved repeatedly hitting six sites, sources told NBC. Trump decided not to greenlight the more extensive campaign, which would have lasted for several weeks and could have resulted in more deaths on both sides. The 'all-in' plan would have required targeting more of Iran's air defense and ballistic missile systems, killing more Iranians and opening up Americans in Iraq and Syria to a greater threat of retaliation from Iran, according to NBC. After being briefed on the plan, Trump—who campaigned on a promise to end foreign wars, not start them—decided to go with the more limited option in part because he was wary of involving the U.S. in a protracted military campaign overseas, sources said. He has since claimed that Operation Midnight Hammer, as the strikes were called, accomplished in a single night what U.S. Central Command predicted would take weeks to achieve. 'We destroyed the nuclear,' Trump insisted in June. 'Iran will not have nuclear. We blew it up. It's blown up to kingdom come.' His comments came a day after a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment from the Pentagon found that the bombings had sealed off the entrances to two of the enrichment facilities but had not collapsed the underground buildings. The report also suggested that much of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was moved before the strikes—a concern the United Nations' nuclear watchdog also expressed. The latest intelligence assessment found more damage than the original report, according to NBC, but not the total annihilation that the Trump administration has been claiming. The intelligence-gathering process is expected to continue for months, with assessments likely to change over time. 'As the president has said and experts have verified, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities,' White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told NBC in a statement. 'America and the world are safer thanks to his decisive action.' Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell also told NBC that all three of the bombed nuclear sites were 'completely and totally obliterated' and called reports to the contrary 'fake news.' The Daily Beast has also reached out for comment. Iran has said its nuclear program is purely for peaceful, civilian purposes, but it was enriching uranium at levels far above those required for domestic power generation. Still, investigators have not found evidence that the country was on the verge of creating a nuclear bomb when Trump authorized the strikes. Late last month, Trump said he would 'absolutely' and 'without question' consider bombing Iran if reports suggested it could enrich uranium again.
South China Morning Post
17-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
How the Israel-Iran conflict changed the scope of 21st-century warfare
The Israel-Iran war , from June 13 to June 24, marks a watershed moment in modern conflict. Precision-strike technology, multi-domain operations and social media diplomacy converged in the direct combat between nuclear-capable adversaries. The confrontation has fundamentally altered strategic deterrence frameworks and validated new paradigms of 21st-century warfare. The conflict began when Israel bombed Iranian nuclear facilities, military installations and key personnel . Tehran soon retaliated. According to Israel, Iran used 550 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones. The United States' June 22 strikes against nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow represented one of the largest escalations between nuclear-capable states in modern history. What distinguished this confrontation was the seamless integration of conventional strikes, cyber operations, electronic warfare and real-time social media diplomacy, which apparently compressed traditional military decision-making from hours to minutes. Israel's systematic targeting of both physical infrastructure and human capital marked a strategic evolution from destroying facilities to dismantling institutional knowledge. The precision-strike capabilities show that nuclear-capable states can engage in extended conventional combat without triggering a strategic nuclear exchange. This potentially encourages military adventurism by suggesting advanced conventional capabilities can achieve strategic objectives while remaining below the nuclear threshold. US President Donald Trump's initial ceasefire announcement on social media was quickly disputed by Iranian officials, leading to continued fighting. The real ceasefire came only after intensive behind-the-scenes diplomacy, highlighting how digital platforms are now forcing rapid crisis responses while traditional diplomatic channels remain essential for actual resolutions. Currency markets and energy futures rapidly reacted to leaders' social media posts, fundamentally altering how international actors assess geopolitical risks.
The Guardian
13-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Iran says it would resume nuclear talks if US guaranteed no further attacks – Middle East crisis live
Update: Date: 2025-07-13T08:03:45.000Z Title: Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks Content: Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East, with a focus on the prospect of US-Iran nuclear talks restarting. According to state media, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Saturday that his country would be willing to re-engage in nuclear talks with Washington if there were assurances of no more attacks against it. Araghchi served as lead negotiator in the strained nuclear talks with the US over the summer, which collapsed after Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran's nuclear sites on 13 June, including at the key Natanz nuclear site as well as at ballistic missile sites. Referring to the subsequent 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites, and the US airstrike on 22 June, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, then: First of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations. Both Iran and the US struck Iranian nuclear facilities in June but did not destroy the Iranian nuclear programme, likely setting it back by a couple of months, according to an early Pentagon intelligence assessment of the attack. The Trump administration, which claims that Iranian nuclear facilities were completely destroyed in the attacks, insists that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Following the airstrikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which led to the departure of inspectors. Iran says it is not developing nuclear weapons and that its enrichment of uranium is for peaceful purposes. Iran is maintaining a fragile ceasefire with the US and Israel but the risk exists of the crisis flaring up into further warfare unless a diplomatic agreement is found soon. We'll continue to bring you the latest developments and analysis throughout the day, stay with us.
