US Strikes Set Back Iran Nuclear Program by Up to Two Years
This aerial file photo taken on March 12, 2022 shows the Pentagon (US Department of Defense) in Washington, DC. - The Pentagon said on February 2, 2023, that it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying high over the United States that appeared to be surveilling highly sensitive nuclear weapons sites. At President Joe Biden's request, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top military officials considered shooting the balloon down but decided doing so would endanger too many people on the ground, a senior defense official told reporters. ©Eva Hambach / AFP

US intelligence assessments indicate that strikes on Iranian nuclear sites set the country's atomic program back by up to two years, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

"We have degraded their program by one to two years at least; intelligence assessments inside the (Defense) Department assess that," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told journalists, later adding, "We're thinking probably closer to two years."

American B-2 bombers hit two Iranian nuclear sites with massive GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs last month, while a guided missile submarine struck a third site with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign targeting Iranian nuclear sites, scientists and top military brass on June 13 in a bid to end the country's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for civilian purposes but Washington and other powers insist is aimed at acquiring atomic weapons.

US President Donald Trump had spent weeks pursuing a diplomatic path to replace the nuclear deal with Tehran that he tore up during his first term in 2018, but he ultimately decided to take military action.

The US operation was massive, involving more than 125 US aircraft, including stealth bombers, fighters and aerial refueling tankers, as well as a guided missile submarine.

AFP

 

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