WASHINGTON — Parts of Iran’s stockpile of near weapons-grade enriched uranium survived last month’s US airstrikes and could be accessed by Tehran’s nuclear engineers, according to a senior Israeli official.
Though the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program was set back at least two years, the official told reporters in a Wednesday briefing, the Jewish state’s assessment is that some of the 60% enriched uranium at Isfahan — apparently buried too deep to be hit — remains accessible, as are stockpiles at other sites.
Israel continues to monitor whether Iran is trying to root out the enriched uranium, the official noted, adding that any attempt to do so would be very difficult.
While the Israeli military had kept a close eye on Tehran’s nuclear program for years, the official said that Iranian efforts to build an atomic weapon had stepped up following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah this past September.
At one point, Tehran had even considered dispatching an armed nuclear weapon with 90% enriched uranium to Houthi terrorists in Yemen to be fired at Israel, the official added.
The US strikes by B-2 bombers June 21 decimated the nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow — the last hidden half a mile under a mountain — and had been preceded by Israeli airstrikes that killed high-ranking Iranian military leaders and at least 14 nuclear scientists.
But the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program has been disputed by President Trump, members of his Cabinet and other experts.
“Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!” Trump posted on his Truth Social June 22.
“The white structure shown is deeply imbedded [sic] into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”
“The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said June 25.
The same day, in a more cautiously worded statement, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said his agency could “confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes.”
The strikes included 14 “bunker buster” bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds, that were sent down from the B-2 bombers as part of an unprecedented, 18-hour stealth mission that included “multiple in-flight refuelings.”
The Israel Atomic Energy Commission in a statement said afterward that the Fordow site was rendered “inoperable” as a result and that, along with the Israeli military’s attacks, the bombings had “set back” Tehran’s nuclear ambitions “by many years.”
Both Israeli and US officials have insisted that the Iranians weren’t able to move any enriched uranium out of the facilities before the strikes after satellite imagery showed cargo-style trucks lined up outside Fordow days ahead of the attack.
There is also consensus among the allies that Tehran’s working centrifuges at Natanz and Fordow were damaged beyond repair — an assessment shared by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi.
“It has suffered enormous damage,” Grossi told Radio France Internationale (RFI) last month, “with these reduced capacities, it will be much more difficult for Iran to continue at the same pace as before.”
“As President Trump has said many times, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The entire world is safer thanks to his decisive leadership.”
The Pentagon and CIA did not respond to requests for comment.
