Report: US and Israeli Strikes Hinder Iranian Nuclear Program and Destroy Vital Facilities

Nuclear experts revealed that recent US strikes on Iranian mining facilities have caused significant damage to Tehran's ability to produce nuclear bomb cores in the foreseeable future, confirming that rebuilding these sites could take years.

The American newspaper "New York Times" quoted analysts stating that US and Israeli attacks have posed a major obstacle to Iran's efforts to manufacture nuclear weapons, even with its remaining stockpile of enriched uranium intact.

In this regard, David Albright, President of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, stated: "They have to rebuild it," referring to the destroyed facilities.

The strikes targeted a facility in Isfahan containing equipment Iran was preparing to use in converting enriched uranium gas into metal, a process known as "mining," a crucial step in producing the explosive core of a nuclear bomb.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirmed that destroying conversion (mining) facilities has set Iran back years, not just months as initial intelligence reports suggested. Pompeo said: "You can't make a nuclear weapon without a conversion facility," adding: "We can't even pinpoint it on the map where it used to be. Everything is dark. It's gone. Erased completely."

This consensus among experts on the impact of the strikes on the Iranian mining program is rare, given the usual intelligence assessments' divergence on such issues.

However, some analysts doubt the effectiveness of the strikes, pointing out that Iran was working on mining operations at other sites, like "Farameen," a research center dismantled in 2004. Yet, these sites are described as small or incomplete compared to the large industrial complex in Isfahan.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged that the damage to nuclear facilities after 12 days of war with Israel was "significant," while US President Donald Trump claimed that the Iranian nuclear program had regressed "decades."

Recent times witnessed unprecedented confrontations between Israel and Iran, including US intervention through airstrikes targeting three nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, to which Tehran responded by hitting military bases in Qatar and Iraq without casualties. The situation ended with Trump's sudden announcement of a ceasefire.