Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile is thought to be largely intact following our strike at the country’s major nuclear sites, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing European officials.
The newspaper cited two people who described the preliminary information assessment, saying that the European capital may have moved ahead of the US strike on Sunday, with a stockpile of 408 kilograms of Iranian 408 kilograms enriched near arms-grade levels.
The allegations that uranium had moved from one of Iran’s nuclear sites were dismissed Thursday by White House spokesman Karolyn Leavitt.
“We were looking closely, but there was no indication in the US that the enriched uranium had been moved,” she said.
The first European intelligence report assessment is unlikely to work with President Donald Trump, who is currently involved in his own fight with spying agencies on the effects of the US strike at three Iranian nuclear sites.
On Thursday, CIA director John Ratcliffe said the strike caused “serious damage” to Iran’s nuclear facilities after the leaked report underestimated the severity of the surgery.
According to Ratcliffe, the important site has been destroyed and needs to be rebuilt in “years.”
However, he stopped supporting Trump’s claim that Iran’s nuclear program operations were “epical military success” that “decapitated” the facility.
Trump’s claims were supported by Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC), and on Wednesday said US and Israeli strikes made Fordow underground strengthening sites “inoperable.”
In its handouts, the IAEC alleged that the “catastrophic” strike had destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure.
The new US intelligence report assessment comes a day after early leaked reports from the Defense Intelligence Report Agency (DIA) concluded that key elements of Iran’s nuclear program could resume in a few months, reducing the scope of destruction.
Speaking at the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday, Trump refused to give the assessment, claiming that his country’s spies had no full picture and defended his own conclusion that American bombs and missiles had been crushed.
“This was a catastrophic attack and knocked them for the loop,” Trump said as he scrambled to support the allegations his administration made hours after the attack.
The impact of the US strike was also downplayed by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In his first official duties since Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire to end the 12-day conflict, Khamenei said Trump’s ratings were “exaggerated.”
“They didn’t accomplish anything important,” Khamenei said in a video message broadcast on state television.
US military business
The US began strikes on Sunday at three Iran’s nuclear facilities. Fordow, Natanz, Isfahan.
In the Fordow, buried beneath the mountain north of QOM city, US stealth bombers dropped 14,000 kilograms of bunkerbuster bombs, causing them to collapse the entrance and damage infrastructure.
However, the facility itself was not destroyed, the US intelligence agency found.
Iran’s ongoing nuclear programme has been at the heart of a recent conflict with Israel. Israeli officials see it as an existential threat to their country.
Iran was previously subject to an international nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the country received sanctions relief in exchange for strict restrictions on nuclear activity.
During his first term in office, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018, accusing him of “the worst deal ever,” and slamming new sanctions against Iran.
Since then, other signatories of the deal have been scrified to comply with Iran, but Tehran has voided the deal and continues to enrich uranium, which is located at 60% at its current level.
It is still technically below the 90% weapon grade level, but well above the 3.67% allowed by the JCPOA.
Iran claims that its nuclear program is peaceful and purely for civilian purposes.
