Iran’s nuclear program has been put back decades, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday ahead of meeting other world leaders at a NATO Summit in The Hague, insinuating that Israeli agents inspected the site of the damage. “This was a devastating attack,” Trump told reporters.
“Israel is doing a report on it now, I understand, and I was told that they said that it was total obliteration.”
Shas chair Arye Deri denied Trump’s claim that Israelis visited Fordow. When he was asked what damage was caused to the Iranian nuclear program and whether there was enriched uranium inside the facilities, Deri said, “Nobody knows for sure, because nobody has visited there yet.”
Trump also said that the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities would help the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza return from Hamas captivity.
A preliminary US intelligence assessment said that the US airstrikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability and only set it back by a few months. Asked about the intelligence reports, Trump said, “they really don’t know.”
Trump says intelligence on Iran was inconclusive, but suggests severe damage
Trump shared that the intelligence following the US strikes was inconclusive but also suggested the damage could have been severe. “The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests,” Trump told reporters, adding that “the Iran-Israel ceasefire is going well.”