U.S. defense officials now believe that their recent strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure have caused a substantial delay in the country’s atomic development, potentially pushing it back by up to two years, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years. At least, intel assessments inside the department assess that,” said Parnell in a press briefing. “We’re thinking probably closer to two years, like degraded their program by two years.”
Parnell emphasized that evaluations of the impact on three of Iran’s most critical nuclear facilities have not shifted, saying that the installations hit were “completely obliterated.”
“We believe that Iran’s nuclear capability has been severely degraded, perhaps even their ambition to build a bomb,” he continued, though he acknowledged that intelligence analysts are still examining the full consequences.
The operation involved the deployment of six bunker-busting bombs targeting the highly secured Fordow enrichment site. Additional attacks included the launch of multiple submarine-based cruise missiles directed at Iranian facilities in Natanz and Isfahan.
This wave of U.S. airstrikes came after Israeli forces conducted their own operation on June 13, hitting military, nuclear, and civilian targets inside Iran.
Despite the dual offensives by the U.S. and Israel, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), commented earlier this week that Iran could potentially restart its uranium enrichment activities “in a matter of months.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged the toll the attacks have taken, describing the damage to Iran’s nuclear program as “serious” during comments made last week amid the ongoing 12-day conflict with Israel.
“A detailed assessment of the damage is being carried out by experts from the Atomic Energy Organization (of Iran),” Araghchi said in a statement broadcast on state TV.
He also noted that Tehran is now exploring compensation over the losses. “Now, the discussion of demanding damages and the necessity of providing them has been placed as one of the important issues on the country’s diplomatic agenda,” he stated.

{Matzav.com}