Key Points and Summary – A new U.S. intelligence assessment, reported by NBC News, contradicts President Trump’s claims that Iran’s nuclear facilities were “obliterated” in the recent American strikes.
-According to the report, only one of the three sites, Fordow, was significantly destroyed, setting back enrichment there by up to two years.
-The other two sites, Natanz and Isfahan, sustained less damage and could reportedly resume operations within months.
-This assessment, which the White House has vehemently denied, also revealed that Trump rejected a more extensive strike plan, opting for a limited operation.
The Iran Nuclear Showdown Might Not Be Over
Donald Trump, ever since last month’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, has been adamant that Iran’s facilities and capability were “obliterated.” Trump and his White House have not brooked any disagreement on that point, going so far as to threaten to sue news outlets who have claimed otherwise, while his press secretary has referred to the leaker of a previous report as “an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.”
That happened after CNN reported, shortly after the strikes, that the nuclear sites were not destroyed.
Now, another government assessment appears to have reached a similar conclusion.
One Out of Three
According to a new NBC News report, only one of the sites attacked by the U.S. was “mostly destroyed,” while the others were not.
“One of the three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran struck by the United States last month was mostly destroyed, setting work there back significantly,” the NBC story said, citing “five current and former U.S. officials familiar with the assessment.”
“But the two others were not as badly damaged and may have been degraded only to a point where nuclear enrichment could resume in the next several months if Iran wants it to, according to a recent U.S. assessment of the destruction caused by the military operation.”
The assessment has been shared in recent days with members of Congress, Pentagon officials, and even allied countries, the NBC report said.
The NBC report said that of the three sites that were attacked, Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, officials believe that the strikes on Fordow were “successful in setting back Iranian enrichment capabilities at that site by as much as two years.”
Another Attack Option on Iran?
The report also found something else about the attacks that hadn’t been previously known: Central Command, under Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, had “developed a much more comprehensive plan to strike Iran that would have involved hitting three additional sites in an operation that would have stretched for several weeks instead of a single night,” by striking six different sites in Iran.
But that was not the attack option that the White House chose.
Trump rejected that plan, per the NBC report, because “it was at odds with his foreign policy instincts to extract the United States from conflicts abroad, not dig deeper into them, as well as the possibility of a high number of casualties on both sides.”
The report also stated that discussions are ongoing within both the American and Israeli governments “about whether additional strikes on the two less-damaged facilities could be necessary if Iran does not soon agree to restart negotiations with the Trump administration on a nuclear deal or if there are signs Iran is trying to rebuild at those locations.”
The White House Responds
As with every other report of the last few weeks that has expressed any doubt about the “obliteration” of the nuclear sites, the White House pushed back on NBC’s reporting.
“As the President has said and experts have verified, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told NBC News. “America and the world are safer, thanks to his decisive action.”
The Pentagon pushed back as well.
“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,” Department of Defense spokesman Sean Parnell said in the story. “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.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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