Iran says nuclear facilities badly damaged by US airstrikes
However, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not provide any further details about the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites
In what is arguably the first confirmation from Iran about its nuclear facilities suffering damage due to US airstrikes, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has admitted that Tehran’s nuclear facilities were “badly damaged.”
What Iran said
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Baghaei did not provide any further details about the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites but said, “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure,” reported AP.
The US deployed its B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to strike at the nuclear facilities with bunker buster bombs, formally known as Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP).
Also Read: It is too early to determine damage to Iran's nuclear facilities, says IDF
Intelligence report 'inconclusive'
The confirmation comes amid claims and counterclaims over the outcome of the US airstrikes. While US President Donald Trump has stood by his claim that the strikes totally “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear facilities, a leaked intelligence report has stated that, as per preliminary assessment the Iranian nuclear sites were not permanently put out of action and Tehran’s nuclear programme have been pushed back only by a few months.
According to media reports, Trump has refuted the intelligence report and dubbed it “very inconclusive.” Speaking to reporters at The Hague ahead of the Nato summit, the US President said that the intelligence report stated that “we don’t know. It could have been very severe.”
Also Read: Russia says its too early to asses damage to Iran's nuclear facilities
Trump refutes media reports
He also claimed that US airstrikes have pushed back Iran’s nuclear programme “by decades,” adding that Tehran “will never do it again.” Earlier, refuting media reports regarding the intelligence assessment, Trump dubbed them “fake news”. Lashing out at major media outlets like CNN and the New York Times, he posted on Truth Social, saying that the Iranian nuclear sites were “completely destroyed.”
White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has also dubbed the media report as “flat-out wrong.”
Earlier, Israel, a close ally of the US, had said that it was “too early” to assess the damage inflicted on the Iranian nuclear facilities by the US airstrikes. Russia also has expressed similar views.