Pentagon officials are now saying the recent US military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites have set the country's nuclear program back by about two years, a less sweeping assessment than President Trump's earlier claim that the strikes "obliterated" Tehran's nuclear capabilities, the Wall Street Journal reports. At a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, spokesperson Sean Parnell said the strikes, which included B-2 bombers dropping bunker-busters at Fordow and Natanz and cruise missiles hitting Isfahan, "degraded their program by two years." The attacks followed earlier Israeli strikes on other nuclear sites and key personnel. Parnell's press briefing was not a formal Defense Department assessment, the New York Times reports, calling his remarks "the latest in a confusing series of shifting assessments."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week echoed the view that US actions destroyed critical nuclear infrastructure, but outside experts and some in the intelligence community are offering more cautious estimates. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called the damage "very serious" but said Iran could get some centrifuges running within months. Grossi also noted that inspectors are unsure if Iran moved any enriched uranium before the raids, and Iran has since suspended cooperation with international inspectors.
A Defense Intelligence Agency assessment shortly after the attacks said Iran's program may have only been delayed by a few months, though that was described by the Trump administration as a preliminary view. CIA Director John Ratcliffe later stated that "credible intelligence indicates Iran's Nuclear Program has been severely damaged." Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meanwhile, has only said "initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction."
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