US strikes on Iran only set back nuclear programme by a few months, says intelligence assessment

The United States’ airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran did not destroy its nuclear programme and only set it back by a few months, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing a preliminary intelligence assessment from Washington.

This came hours after Tel Aviv and Tehran on Tuesday agreed to a ceasefire after 12 days of hostilities that saw Israel attack Iran and face Iranian retaliation. However, both countries have since accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

Washington had joined Israel’s war against Iran in the early hours of Sunday. US President Donald Trump had said that the country carried out a “very successful attack” on Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan.

He claimed that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “completely obliterated” in the attacks.

Washington is an ally of Israel and acts as a guarantor of the country’s security.

However, an assessment conducted by the Pentagon’s intelligence arm Defence Intelligence Agency claimed that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed in the US attack, unidentified officials told CNN.

The Pentagon serves as the headquarters of the US Department of Defence.

Tehran’s centrifuges were largely “intact”, the officials said, adding that the enriched uranium was moved out of the sites prior to the US strikes. “So the [Defence Intelligence Agency] assessment is that the US set them back maybe a...

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