The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking on behalf of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC), said on Wednesday that the US bombing of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility on Sunday had “destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.”
The statement added, “We assess that the American strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program, have set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years.”
It also warned that the “achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.”
The comments follow a US military operation that targeted Iran’s main nuclear sites - including Fordow which houses the country’s most advanced centrifuges - amid a dramatic escalation in hostilities between Israel and Iran. The escalation began on June 13 when Israel carried out surprise airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear and military sites, killing many commanders and nuclear scientists. A ceasefire was brokered by Washington on Tuesday, which appears to be holding.
An early US intelligence assessment, reported by American media, contradicts the Israeli statement, suggesting the strikes did not destroy the core components of Iran’s nuclear program and may have only delayed its progress by months. The White House acknowledged the report but disagreed with its conclusions.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly lauded the strikes saying that they have “obliterated” the program.
“I don’t see them [Iran] getting back involved in the nuclear business anymore,” Trump told reporters in The Hague on Wednesday after attending the NATO summit. “Iran is not going to be building bombs for a long time,” he added. “If it does... we will have to do something about it.”
The Fordow facility, located in a mountainous area near Qom, has long been considered a key element of Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but Western powers and Israel have accused Tehran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon - an allegation Iran denies.
The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), previously reported Iran holds hundreds of kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60 percent, which could be brought up to weapons-grade quality. Iranian officials now claim much of their stock was secretly moved to an undisclosed site days before the US strikes, raising further concerns.
Iran’s parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to suspend the country’s cooperation with the IAEA. The bill bars IAEA inspectors from entering Iran unless the security of the country's nuclear facilities and its peaceful nuclear activities is guaranteed. The bill requires the blessing of the country’s highest supreme council.
