Analysts warn Iranian regime may still retain core ambitions

president Donald Trump Last week, it was announced that Iran’s underground nuclear facilities bombed by the United States were “eliminated”, while increasing the “huge damage to all Iran’s nuclear sites.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded to this message In the briefing“The CIA can confirm that reliable intelligence shows that Iran’s nuclear program has been severely damaged by the recent target strike,” said the CIA.

Israeli intelligence sources told Fox News numbers that the strikes on Natanz, Fordo and Esfahan have caused serious and possibly irreversible damage to Iran’s known enrichment infrastructure. “We’re at the heart of their capabilities,” one official said.

New satellite imagery shows continued activities of Iran’s Fudo nuclear complex following U.S. air strikes

But despite the great success of the mission, there are still questions about what survives and what may happen next. Analysts warn that while Iran’s announced facilities have been greatly destroyed, secret elements of the plan may still exist and enriched uranium stocks may surface.

Rafael Grossi, Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is in CBS interview In the case of Saturday, although “it’s clear that, especially in the case of Fordo, Natanz (and Isfahan), Iran has to some extent, and to some extent, be destroyed to some extent, in the treatment, conversion and enrichment of uranium.

Nuclear experts say that despite the historic blow to Iran’s nuclear progress, the regime may retain technical knowledge and residual capacity to restructure its plans over time, especially if it chooses to go black.

one Detailed evaluation released on Tuesday The Institute of Science and International Security (ISIS) found that Israel’s action rose to the lion, followed by a strike from a US bunker, “effectively destroyed Iran’s centrifugal enrichment program.” But authors David Albright and Spencer Faragasso warned that “uranium, such as stocks such as 60%, 20%, and 3-5%) are enriched and manufactured centrifuges, but have not been installed yet… pose a threat because they can use them in the future to produce weapon-grade uranium levels”.

Jonathan Ruhe, director of foreign policy at the Jewish National Security Institute (JINSA), agreed in an interview with Fox News Digital.

“The threat is definitely reduced now,” Ruh said. “But threaten From here, it is difficult to discover, as Iran may try to rebuild secretly. They don’t need much space or time to enrich 60% to 90%. The IAEA has said for years that Iran may retain some secret capabilities. ”

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Ruhe added that while Israeli intelligence may be aware of attempts to move uranium before the strike, “any planned assumption must take into account Iran’s remaining capabilities, even if it is reduced.”

John Spencer, president of Urban Warfare Research at Modern Warfare Academy, said critics believe the plan has not been completely destroyed, which lacks greater prospects.

“Can everything be rebuilt in the end? Sure enough, the program has rolled back – for years, and more,” Spencer told Fox News Digital. “People are fixed at how many pounds of uranium are missing. But building bombs far exceeds the material. You need to convert, metallurgy, delivery systems – all of which are hit.”

Nuclear proliferation scholar at Hebrew University and associate professor at Stanford University, PhD or Rabinowitz, PhD, notes that there are still many unknowns.

“There is no verified answer yet, that is, a case where 60% uranium is enriched, or other feedstocks are 20% or 3.5%,” Rabinowitz said. “If Iran could use advanced centrifuges, then in theory they could be restored to weapon level – but we don’t know how many centrifuges survive or under what circumstances.”

She also explained that even If Iran Retaining the material, converting uranium gas into metal for bombing requires special facilities. “To the best of our knowledge, the conversion facility in Isfahan was bombed. Without it, Iran faced an important bottleneck,” she said. But she warned that nuclear weapons technology is not insurmountable: “It was science in the 1940s. If North Korea can do it, Iran can – ultimately.”

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According to ISIS reports, almost all major Iranian nuclear and missile facilities have confirmed “widespread damage”, including damage to uranium metal conversion plants, fuel manufacturing centers, and the IR-40 ARAK heavy water reactor. The report noted that Israel and the United States strikes “make the Fudo site inoperable”, citing high-resolution satellite images of deep bunker penetration.

Rabinowitz also stressed that intellectual pictures are still developing in real time. “The Israelis and Americans are now working to create the most accurate intelligence situation,” she said. “Without my own resources, I can guarantee that the Israelis are monitoring communications within Iran, trying to figure out what the Iranians have figured out. As they learn more, Will Israel and the United States”

As the debate is enough to permanently ban Iran’s core ambitions, analysts have reached a consensus on some point: Iran’s assumptions can be pushed without consequences.

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At a press conference on Friday. Trump was asked whether he had restarted Iran’s nuclear program. “There is no doubt,” he told reporters.