WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to hold a news conference on Thursday to offer a fresh assessment of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a stinging row over how much American bombardment set back Tehran’s nuclear program.
After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since June 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities at the weekend.
The extent of the damage in Iran, where Israel said it had acted to stop an imminent nuclear threat, has become the subject of profound disagreement in the United States.
An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strike did not destroy key components and that Iran’s nuclear program was set back only months at most.
Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilogram (880 pounds) of enriched uranium – which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country.
The US administration has hit back furiously, with Trump repeatedly saying the attack “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordo buried inside a mountain.
“I can tell you, the United States had no indication that that enriched uranium was moved prior to the strikes, as I also saw falsely reported,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
“As for what’s on the ground right now, it’s buried under miles and miles of rubble because of the success of these strikes on Saturday evening,” she said.
