The “bunker-buster” bombs dropped by U.S. forces on Iranian nuclear facilities last month have set back Tehran’s nuclear program by up to two years, the Pentagon confirmed on Wednesday.
“We’ve rolled back their program by at least one to two years, according to internal intelligence evaluations,” said Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell during a briefing with reporters.
“We assess that Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been significantly disrupted — and perhaps even their desire to pursue a nuclear weapon has been shaken,” he added. However, national security analysts told Fox News Digital that Iran is unlikely to abandon its goal of acquiring nuclear arms.
This marks a far more optimistic evaluation of the June 22 airstrikes — which hit the Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz facilities — than earlier reports, which had questioned the level of damage to Iran’s atomic infrastructure.
Rafael Grossi, director of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), cautioned over the weekend that Iran could resume uranium enrichment within a few months.
His remarks came amid speculation that Iran may have managed to relocate portions of its enriched uranium stockpile or centrifuge equipment ahead of the strikes. Satellite imagery reportedly showed over a dozen cargo trucks at the Fordow site in the days leading up to the attack.