President Donald Trump stated last week that the underground nuclear facilities of Iran were ‘erased’ by the US, while the US and Israeli strikes ‘monumental damage to all nuclear locations in Iran’ were added.
The US Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth repeated that message in a briefing and said that the “CIA can confirm that a set of credible intelligence indicates that Iran’s nuclear program has been seriously damaged by recent targeted strikes.”
New satellite images shows constant activities in the nuclear complex of Iran after the American air strikes of the American air strikes
President Donald Trump arrives in the White House on 9 June 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
But despite the overwhelming success of the mission, there are still questions about what it survived – and what could come. Analysts warn that although Iran’s declared facilities have largely been destroyed, secret elements of the program can still exist and that enriched uranium resources can pop up.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi said in a Interview with CBS On Saturday that, although “It is clear that what happened in particular in Fordow, Natanz, [and] Isfahan – where Iran used to be possible, to a certain extent, possibilities in terms of treatment, conversion and enrichment of uranium – has been destroyed to a large extent, “the threat remains.
Maxar Technologies imagery taken on June 29, 2025, The aftermath of us and Israeli strikes on the Fordow Uranium facility of Iran and reveals damaged tunnels and repair activities. (Maxar Technologies)
Nuclear experts say that although the nuclear progress of Iran has been given a historic blow, the regime can still retain the technical know-how and remaining possibilities to reconstruct its program over time if it chooses to get dark.
A Detailed review released on Tuesday The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) showed that the operation of Israel Rising Lion, followed by American Bunker-Busting attacks, “Iran’s Centrifugee Program destroyed effectively.” But authors David Albright and Spencer Faragasso warned that “residues such as stocks of 60%, 20%and 3-5%enriched uranium and produced centrifuges, but not yet installed … form a threat because they can be used in the future to produce arms-quality uranium”.
“The threat has certainly been reduced a lot,” said Ruhe. “But the threat from now on will be much more difficult to detect because Iran can try to rebuild secretly. They do not need much space or time to enrich 60% to 90%. And the IAEA has said for years that Iran probably retains a secret capacities.”
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Ruhe added that although Israeli intelligence was probably aware of attempts to move uranium before the strikes, “every planning assumption in the future must take into account the remaining capacity of Iran – even if it is taken.”
The supreme leader of Iran Ali Khamei in Tehran on March 21, 2025. (Iranian leader press office/handout/anadolu via getty images)
John Spencer, chairman of Urban Warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, said that critics claim that the program has not been completely destroyed, miss the larger whole.
Centrifuge machines in the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility in Central Iran, released on a photo on November 5, 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)
Dr. Whether Rabinowitz, a nuclear proliferation scientist at the Hebrew university and a visit to the Association of Chief Lecturer at Stanford, noted that there are still many strangers left.
“There is no verified answer to what happened with the 60% enriched uranium – or with the other bonds by 20% or 3.5%,” said Rabinowitz. “If Iran has access to advanced centrifuges, they could in theory enrich to arms quality but we do not know how many centrifuges have survived or in what condition they are.”
A B-2 bomber arrives at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, Sunday 22 June 2025. (AP Photo/David Smith)
She also explained that, even if Iran retains the material, converting uranium gas into metal for a bomb requires a specialized facility. “From what we know, that conversion facility was bombed in Isfahan. Without standing Iran for a significant bottleneck,” she said. But she warned that nuclear weapon technology is not insurmountable: “This is the science of the 1940s. If Noord -Korea could do it, Iran would do that too.”
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According to the ISIS report, “extensive damage” was confirmed in almost all major Iranian nuclear and rocket facilities, including the destruction of uranium metal conversion factories, fuel manufacturing centers and the IR-40 ARAK heavy water reactor. The report noted that the Israeli and the US ceased “made the Fordow site unusable”, stating satellite images with high resolution of deep bunker penetrations.
An Israeli fighter jet leaves for strikes in Tehran. (IDF)
Rabinowitz also emphasized that the intelligence images is still developing in real time. “The Israelis and the Americans are now working hard to generate the most accurate intelligence images they can,” she said. “Without having my own sources in the Mossad, I can guarantee that the Israelians keep an eye on internal Iranian communication and try to find out what the Iranians have come up with. As they learn more, so he will be Israel and the US”
While the debate continues whether the strikes were sufficient to permanently eliminate the nuclear ambitions of Iran, analysts agree on one point: Iran’s assumption that it could continue without consequences.
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During a press conference on Friday. Trump was asked if he would again bomb Iran’s nuclear program if it was started again. He told reporters, “Certainly without a doubt.”
