Pentagon presents new findings on Iran's nuclear facilities – contradicting Trump
“Midnight Hammer”
Status: 07:56 a.m.The US Department of Defense contradicts US President Trump's claim that the recent airstrikes have "wiped out" Iran's nuclear program. In fact, the bombings have only delayed its progress.
US President Donald Trump had claimed that the airstrikes on Iran had "wiped out" its nuclear facilities. But on Wednesday, the US Department of Defense admitted that the Iranian nuclear program had been set back by one to two years.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters based on internal intelligence assessments. According to these, Iran's enrichment program has been "set back by at least one to two years," Parnell said. However, the Defense Department estimates it's closer to two years.
As part of Operation Midnight Hammer, ordered by Trump, the US attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran with bunker-busting bombs on the night of June 22. These were the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities. Trump subsequently compared the effect to the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), however, assumes that Iran could resume uranium enrichment in just a few months. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said this in an interview at the end of June.
Iran has now officially suspended cooperation with the Atomic Energy Agency. The US State Department criticized this as "unacceptable." The extent of its enriched uranium stockpiles cannot therefore be independently verified.
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