Iran declares readiness to rehabilitate its nuclear facilities damaged after US strikes

Iran confirmed today, Tuesday, June 24, that it has taken preliminary steps to restore the operation of its nuclear facilities damaged by the US strikes that targeted three Iranian nuclear sites last Saturday, according to the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami.

Eslami explained in a statement to state television: "We have taken the necessary measures in advance, and we are now assessing the extent of the damage. The preparations for rehabilitating (the nuclear facilities) were part of our plan, and our goal is to avoid any disruption in production or maintenance operations".

Estimates of the extent of the damage to the nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow are still unclear, although some experts have relied on satellite images indicating significant damage at the Fordow facility, possibly including the destruction of uranium enrichment centrifuges.

On the other hand, Decker Evelith, an assistant researcher at the CIA specializing in satellite images, pointed out the difficulty of assessing the damage to underground facilities, saying that the Fordow facility, which houses hundreds of centrifuges, "is buried at a very deep depth that does not allow for assessing the level of damage using satellite images", according to Reuters.

American officials, including Defense Secretary Ben Haggis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President Jay De Fans, have confirmed that the strikes caused significant damage to the Iranian nuclear program, but they did not provide detailed information on the extent of the damage.

In a related context, nuclear experts warned that Iran may have transferred a stockpile of highly enriched uranium (60%) close to weapons-grade from Fordow to secret sites before the attack. Satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed unusual activity at Fordow before the attack, with a large number of vehicles near the facility entrance.

A senior Iranian source confirmed last Sunday that most of the 60% enriched uranium had been moved to another location before the US strikes, raising questions about the impact of the attack on the Iranian nuclear program.