Former President Donald Trump’s recent assertion that U.S. airstrikes have “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities is being challenged by Israeli lawmaker Aryeh Deri. In an interview with Haredi media, Deri remarked that Israeli agents had not conducted inspections at the Fordow nuclear site, which directly contradicts Trump’s assertion. He acknowledged that satellite imagery indicates damage but emphasized that no one has visited the site for verification.
At the NATO summit, Trump insisted that Israeli operatives had confirmed the destruction at Fordow and that the U.S. bombing had effectively thwarted Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He asserted that the strikes set Iran back by decades and guaranteed that they would be unable to enrich uranium or develop a nuclear weapon.
Conversely, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi stated that Iran’s nuclear program had suffered significant damage, referencing the destruction of critical facilities at Natanz, Isfahan, and Arak. However, he refrained from affirming the complete destruction of Fordow, instead indicating that the site would likely be rendered inoperable in the long term due to severe damage.
In the meantime, skepticism regarding the effectiveness of the strikes has surfaced through leaked reports from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). These evaluations reportedly conveyed “low confidence” regarding the level of destruction, implying that while damage occurred, Iran’s nuclear program may have merely been postponed rather than eradicated.
