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Nuclear weapons analyst David Albright told the outlet that Iran could be “backfilling the craters, carrying out engineering damage assessments and radiological sampling,” pointing to efforts to assess the fallout from America’s recent military action.
These developments are raising pointed questions about just how effective President Trump’s strike really was. Many are now worried that the damage might have merely delayed Tehran’s plans rather than derailing them entirely.
The concern spiked after a preliminary intelligence review—released publicly in the wake of the strikes—warned that Iran’s nuclear program might only be paused for a matter of months, despite the devastating optics of the operation.
Trump, however, is adamant that the strikes were a historic blow. Speaking last week, he insisted Israeli intelligence teams got a firsthand look at the aftermath at Fordow and confirmed catastrophic damage.
“They have guys who go in after the strike, and they said it was total obliteration,” Trump declared during a press briefing at a NATO meeting in The Hague.
The former president further threatened that Iran would face even greater consequences if it attempted to resume its uranium enrichment. FirstPost reported that Trump didn’t mince words about keeping the pressure on Tehran.
Trump also emphasized that Israel’s intelligence community is still assembling a comprehensive damage assessment. He insisted Iran had no opportunity to salvage or relocate sensitive nuclear materials before the bombs fell.
Drawing an audacious parallel to World War II, Trump compared the strikes on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He claimed both actions produced the same “decisive effect in bringing conflict to a halt.”
While Trump celebrated the supposed success of the mission, his tone grew increasingly defiant throughout the day. He brushed off claims from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that roughly 400kg of Iran’s highly enriched uranium reserves have inexplicably vanished.
Forbes highlighted that Trump has dismissed these reports as political noise, but not everyone in the U.S. government seems quite so certain.
Earlier this week, U.S. Vice President JD Vance publicly admitted that Washington still doesn’t know where the missing uranium might be hiding. Vance vowed the mystery would become a top item during any upcoming negotiations with Iranian officials.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe added to the mix of conflicting signals, stating that Iran’s atomic program had suffered significant setbacks: “Several key nuclear facilities were destroyed,” Ratcliffe asserted, citing “reliable intelligence sources.”
Despite the apparent damage, Trump revealed that a U.S.-Iran meeting could happen as soon as next week to tackle the lingering nuclear standoff. “We may sign an agreement, or we may not,” he shrugged. “I don’t care if I have an agreement or not.”
Trump’s usually ironclad optimism also wavered somewhat on the question of long-term peace between Iran and Israel. Just days after predicting a cease-fire that would last “forever,” he admitted the region’s volatility remains a powder keg.
“They’re both tired… but could it start again? Maybe. Maybe soon,” he remarked, according to FirstPost.
Meanwhile, a leaked report from the Defense Intelligence Agency painted a far less triumphant picture, indicating that Iran’s nuclear capabilities might only be delayed “by months.” However, that same report also confessed the assessment was based on intelligence of “low confidence”—an omission critics say major media outlets like CNN and the New York Times conveniently ignored.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed this week that the Pentagon and FBI are actively hunting the source of the leak, hinting that criminal charges could be looming.
As images of cranes and bulldozers at Fordow circulate worldwide, one thing is clear: the high-stakes chess match over Iran’s nuclear future is far from over—and both Tehran and Washington seem determined to keep their cards close to the vest.
