Experts say Iran likely moved near weapons-grade uranium from Fordow before US strike, hiding it from global monitors
\n WASHINGTON
\nUS Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to hold a news conference on Thursday to offer a fresh assessment of strikes on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, following a stinging row over how much American bombardment set back Tehran\u2019s nuclear program. After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since June 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities at the weekend.
\nThe extent of the damage in Iran, where Israel said it had acted to stop an imminent nuclear threat, has become the subject of profound disagreement in the United States. An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strike did not destroy key components and that Iran\u2019s nuclear program was set back only months at most.
\nAnother key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilogram (880 pounds) of enriched uranium \u2014 which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country. The US administration has hit back furiously, with Trump repeatedly saying the attack \u201cobliterated\u201d Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordo buried inside a mountain.
\n\u201cI can tell you, the United States had no indication that that enriched uranium was moved prior to the strikes, as I also saw falsely reported,\u201d White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. \u201cAs for what\u2019s on the ground right now, it\u2019s buried under miles and miles of rubble because of the success of these strikes on Saturday evening,\u201d she said.
\nTrump said that Hegseth, whom he dubbed \u201cwar\u201d secretary, would hold a news conference at 8 am (1200 GMT) on Thursday to \u201cfight for the dignity of our great American pilots\u201d. CIA chief John Ratcliffe said in a statement on Wednesday that \u201cseveral key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years\u201d.
\nThe Israeli military said it had delivered a \u201csignificant\u201d blow to Iran\u2019s nuclear sites but that it was \u201cstill early\u201d to fully assess the damage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that \u201cwe have thwarted Iran\u2019s nuclear project\u201d. \u201cAnd if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Experts say Iran likely moved near weapons-grade uranium from Fordow before US strike, hiding it from global monitors WASHINGTON US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to hold a news conference on Thursday to offer a fresh assessment of strikes on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, following a stinging row over how much American bombardment set back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-486733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n