Fatma Zehra Solmaz
23 June 2025•Update: 23 June 2025
ISTANBUL
Early independent assessments suggest that US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities did not fully destroy them, raising concerns that Tehran may still retain the capacity to develop nuclear weapons, sources told CNN.
The overnight operation targeted three nuclear sites, including Fordo — Iran’s most fortified facility — where the US deployed 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday declared the mission a “success,” claiming Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites were “completely and totally obliterated.”
However, both US and Israeli military assessments have been more cautious.
According to two Israeli officials cited by The Washington Post, initial analysis suggests that while Fordo sustained serious damage, it was not entirely destroyed.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said initial reports showed all three sites suffered “severe damage and destruction,” but noted it was too early to determine whether Iran’s nuclear capabilities were eliminated.
Unlike the other two targets, the Isfahan nuclear facility was not hit with heavy bunker-buster bombs dropped by B-2 bombers, according to sources cited by CNN.
“This was an incomplete strike,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. He noted that Iran’s 60% enriched uranium stockpile remains stored in underground tunnels at Isfahan that were not hit in the strikes.
Lewis added that because the tunnels remain intact, Iran retains the material needed to develop a nuclear weapon — a possibility that has not been ruled out.
Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official and ex-CIA officer, told The New York Times that the strike would “likely set back the Iranian nuclear weapon program two to five years” given the types of munitions used.
He added that “a full battle damage assessment will be conducted in the coming days” to provide a clearer evaluation.
