Washington, DC [US], July 3, : The Department of Defence (DOD) estimated that Iran's nuclear programme has been set back at least a year, after the United States military bombed three vital nuclear sites in the last month, as reported by The Hill.
The chief spokesperson of the Pentagon, Sean Parnell, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said that the intelligence assessments inside the department indicate that Iran's nuclear program has been withdrawn by "one to two years."
During a briefing, Parnell said, "I think we're thinking probably closer to two years, like degraded their program by two years."
He further said, "We believe, and certainly, all of the intelligence that we've seen has led us to believe that Iran's, those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated," referring to the nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.
The latter assessment aligns with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's evaluation of the damage at the targeted sites, as reported by The Hill.
After an early Pentagon intelligence assessment reportedly found that Tehran's nuclear program was set back by only months, Hegseth has called the leaked assessment premature.
The US military bombed Iran on June 21. This was followed by more than a week of back-and-forth strikes between Tehran and Israel.
United States President Donald Trump has asserted that the attacks destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities and halted the regime's nuclear ambitions.
"It was obliterating like nobody's ever seen before. And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time," Trump said in an interview on Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures."
Trump has been open to restarting the nuclear negotiations with Iran. However, he mentioned that a deal to restrain Tehran's nuclear enrichment is not necessary. Additionally, he also suggested that US strikes are possible if there is renewed cause for concern for Tehran.
In an interview the International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could start enriching uranium again in a "matter of months."
Earlier, Grossi had said that Iran's nuclear facilities "suffered enormous damage" following US strikes, according to The Hill.
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