Iran has admitted that the US bombing of the key Fordow nuclear site using bunker buster bombs has “seriously and heavily damaged” the facility, but has still maintained that nobody knows what exactly transpired there.
In an interview with CBS News, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that an evaluation is currently being done on the facility.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araghchi said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday.
The Fordow nuclear facility is situated deep inside a mountainous terrain and is mostly underground. The foreign minister revealed that the country’s Atomic Energy Organisation will submit the report on the evaluation to the Iranian government.
“The Atomic Energy Organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government,” he said.
Intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating in Washington.
President Donald Trump has said the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but intelligence officials acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of the damage caused by the strikes that were carried out more than a week ago.
The US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities
The US joined Israel’s attacks on Iran on June 21 when it bombed the country’s three key nuclear sites. These sites were Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.
While Donald Trump claimed that the strikes were ‘very very successful’ and that Tehran’s nuclear program was destroyed, a US intelligence report contradicted the Republican leader.
Israel had started the attacks on Iran on June 13, killing many top scientists and military leaders. Iran responded with a barrage of missiles fired at various Israeli cities, which caused a lot of damage.
A ceasefire was agreed upon on June 24, which was brokered by the US. While both countries have accused each other of ceasefire violations, it has largely held since.
Fordow nuclear site,US bombing,Iranian Foreign Minister,nuclear program,ceasefire violations
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