Some of the enriched uranium that could be used to make a nuclear weapon likely survived the US bombing campaign against Iran last month, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing a senior Israeli official.
US President Donald Trump and his cabinet have maintained the talking point that all three nuclear sites were “obliterated” by the unique, bunker-busting, 30,000 lb American bombs.
“We have degraded their programme by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department (of Defence) assess that,” Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters last week, without providing evidence to support that conclusion.
Parnell said the assessment indicates that the official estimate is “probably closer to two years”.
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Now, the Israeli assessment is that the 18,000 spinning machines called centrifuges were indeed largely destroyed – but not all of the 60 percent-enriched uranium, which was stored away in casks and may still be accessible to Iranian scientists.
Any attempt, however, to access the site in that manner will be detected by Israel and Iran will be attacked again, the official warned.
Speaking to the Times on condition of anonymity, the official said that Israel had evidence to believe that Iran raced to make a nuclear bomb after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah 10 months ago. Nasrallah was a key Iranian ally in the region.
That evidence was shared with the US, the official said, and Israel hastened its own plans to start a wave of attacks on Iran.
But Rafael Grossi, the secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is the United Nations nuclear watchdog, maintains the Iranians had moved out much of their stockpile before the attacks took place.
No so, the Israeli official told the Times, as it would have been too difficult.
The ’12-day war’
Israel began attacking Iran on 13 June, and repeatedly targeted the country’s military and nuclear facilities, as well as assassinated high-profile security, intelligence and military commanders, and scientists.
In response, Iran fired barrages of missiles towards Haifa, Tel Aviv and other major Israeli cities, striking several sensitive areas.
Israel’s military censor, as a matter of policy, has barred local and international media outlets from publishing the details of the exact locations targeted.
Trump’s strikes on Iran’s three nuclear facilities – the first such act by any US president – came just over a week after Israel began its assault.
Within 48 hours, Iran began firing several missiles as part of a choreographed retaliatory strike against the US’s al-Udeid base in Qatar. Trump had called the Iranian attack a “very weak response” and said he would renew efforts to negotiate peace between Israel and Iran.
In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump thanked Iran for “giving us early notice” of the missile strikes and said that no Americans had been killed or harmed in the attack.
His remarks suggested that the Iranian response was carefully coordinated to allow Tehran and Washington an off-ramp. “Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” Trump wrote.
“Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”
This week Trump confirmed to reporters that US-Iran nuclear diplomacy is back on the table, and that talks have been “scheduled”.
Israel’s initial attack had disrupted five rounds of talks between the two sides.
