Early US intel assessment suggests strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites, sources say

[anatta]

I'm fine with this, as points of discussion.

But you or my opinion falls far short of an informed opinion.

I recently had a poster offer reams of technical data in support of why the Fordow facility is absolutely demolished for good, including the 400Kg of enriched uranium, and yet today - here we are!

But you or my opinion falls far short of an informed opinion.

I certainly have no claims of expertise. But open source info is available and if one learns the basics, one can at least postulate

 

[Apocalypse]

Trump says US will strike Iran again if they'll try restoring nuclear capabilities.

 

[georgephillip]

This is why you don't go bombing countries without solid intelligence and measurable goals.

Unless your economy is based on war and debt perhaps?

Michael Hudson wrote a book on this subject over fifty years ago that explains how US debt replaced gold as an international reserve currency:

https://michael-hudson.com/2020/05/dollar-recycling-and-military-encirclement/

"My book 'Super Imperialism' was about how the United States has gained a free lunch by establishing the dollar as international reserve currency by replacing gold.

"I also showed that the U.S. balance of payments deficit is almost entirely military related to support its 800 bases around the world.

"Ending the gold-exchange standard in 1971 created a situation in which the excess U.S. dollars thrown off by the U.S. payments deficit end up in foreign central banks."

 

[redbeer]

Absolute incompetence will do that.

Obsession will drive them nuts.

 

[Apocalypse]

Iranian FM said that their nuclear facilities have been badly damaged.
Meanwhile ABC reports from Israeli sources that the results of the strike on Fordo are not good.

Israel-Iran live updates: Trump again claims 'total obliteration' of Iran nuclear sites

Indications from an early intelligence assessment on the impact of the strikes began to emerge.

abcnews.go.com

Both statements mean that the hit was not good enough.
US and Israel should probably strike again or find another method to neutralize the facility.

 

[snakestretcher]

So bombs won't do the job. Is a new non proliferation agreement the next step? And what incentive does Iran have to sign up?

Given Trump's history of trashing agreements, and lasting memories of the 1953 CIA regime change coup? None whatsoever; Iran has no reason to trust the West, and every reason to tell us to 'do one' *

*https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Do one

 

[snakestretcher]

Iranian FM said that their nuclear facilities have been badly damaged.
Meanwhile ABC reports from Israeli sources that the results of the strike on Fordo are not good.

Israel-Iran live updates: Trump again claims 'total obliteration' of Iran nuclear sites

Indications from an early intelligence assessment on the impact of the strikes began to emerge.

abcnews.go.com

Both statements mean that the hit was not good enough.
US and Israel should probably strike again or find another method to neutralize the facility.

Where is the quote from the Iranian Foreign Minister in your link?

 

[Callen]

The right wants to blame the left for this but the facts are if Trump had acted responsibly and used tempered language about the outcome, like Cain did, this wouldn't be as big a deal as it is. He should have praised the pilots, said they did their job with great precious and accuracy and assessments are being made of the damage. But no, he has to go out like the egotistical, blowhard he is and claim things he couldn't possibly know to be true. As for the leak, it would have been easy to condemn it and say it was a very ealy assessment and only one of many to come. This is his own damn fault ..stop making excuses for him and blaming others!

Trump will likely refuse to release further assessments just like he refuses to say where he got his initial Intel. If so that tells us all we need to know.

 

[Rexedgar]

Listen to the conflicting narrative in this clip.

Definition of OBLITERATE

to remove utterly from recognition or memory; to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of; to cause (something, such as a bodily part, a scar, or a duct conveying body fluid) to disappear or collapse : remove… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

 

[Callen]

"But I think we can take the we don't know. It was very severe. It was obliteration."

How can the last sentence follow the first? He is talking out of his a$$ as usual.

 

[ncguy]

Listen to the conflicting narrative in this clip.

Definition of OBLITERATE

to remove utterly from recognition or memory; to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of; to cause (something, such as a bodily part, a scar, or a duct conveying body fluid) to disappear or collapse : remove… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

It's amazing how he can talk like that just a total mix of craziness and confliction all within a few sentences

 

[Airyaman]

Everyone is wrong. Trump's strikes where like Hiroshima and Nagasaki!

 

[Threegoofs]

Everyone is wrong. Trump's strikes where like Hiroshima and Nagasaki!

It’s Schroedinger’s Bombing.

 

[iliveonramen]

How is he lying?

If the assessment that says that damage was minimal is true, and they way they are reacting to it seems like it is, then he lied. He told everyone the strike obliterated the site but it didn't. That would make them showing up for evening news talking about the nuclear program pushed back years and the site being obliterated a lie.

 

[poppopfox]

And this botched mission cost the US taxpayers -
AI Overview

According to reports from June 24, 2025, the recent US airstrike on at least three of Iran's nuclear facilities cost hundreds of millions of dollars. This is based on the deployment and operation of over 125 US aircraft involved in the mission, including B-2 stealth bombers. Each B-2 bomber is valued at around $2.1 billion, and at least 14 bunker-buster bombs, each costing millions, were dropped during the strikes.
It's important to note that this is the direct cost of the airstrike mission itself, not including the potential broader economic and geopolitical costs of ongoing military involvement in the region. The US has been involved in military operations in the Middle East for decades, and these operations have resulted in significant costs to taxpayers, estimated in the trillions of dollars when accounting for all related expenses, including veterans' care.

More than 20 years of US wars have directly killed an estimated 940,000 people and cost the US $5.8 trillion.

Is it worth it?

 

[Rogue Valley]

There is also the very real possibility that Iran, reading Donald Trump's Truth Social tweets before the US attack, moved its highly enriched uranium stocks to another location.

Where is Iran's enriched uranium? Questions loom after Trump claims victory.

Iran said it spirited away 880 pounds of enriched uranium before the U.S. bombed its nuclear sites.

www.usatoday.com

---

I believe Trump used the word "obliterated". Such a word doesn't exist in the military lingo of bomb damage assessment (BDA).

Trump pushes back after leaked report suggests Iran strikes had limited impact

The US president says the strikes led to the "virtual obliteration" of Iran's nuclear capabilities while speaking at a Nato summit.

www.bbc.com

---

As I've said many times, if Trump's lips are moving he is lying to someone about something.

 

[Emlee]

 

[Emlee]

 

[Callen]

Trump gave them plenty of notice. He just keeps digging the hole deeper.

 

[pragmatic]

If the US bombing of the Iranian uranium processing sites was unsuccessful that would be a bad thing for the US.

Some (many?) on the Left do seem to be cheering for that outcome purely out of hatred for Trump.


I do get/understand the hatred of Trump. He's a dick. And he sucks. But it isn't a good look to be rooting for US failure just because of the jackass in the White House.

..

 

[Callen]

If the US bombing of the Iranian uranium processing sites was unsuccessful that would be a bad thing for the US.

Some (many?) on the Left do seem to be cheering for that outcome purely out of hatred for Trump.


I do get/understand the hatred of Trump. He's a dick. And he sucks. But it isn't a good look to be rooting for US failure just because of the jackass in the White House.

..

Nobody is cheering or hoping for an unsuccessful outcome. That's absurd. People just want the truth.
.

 

[anatta]

on behalf of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission," contradicts early U.S. intel assessments that found Iran’s nuclear program was only set back a few months.

"The devastating U.S. strike on Fordo destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. We assess that the American strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program, has set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years," the IAEA said in a statement.

 

[Threegoofs]

If the US bombing of the Iranian uranium processing sites was unsuccessful that would be a bad thing for the US.

Some (many?) on the Left do seem to be cheering for that outcome purely out of hatred for Trump.


I do get/understand the hatred of Trump. He's a dick. And he sucks. But it isn't a good look to be rooting for US failure just because of the jackass in the White House.

..

Its not rooting for failure.

Its cheering (and frustration) that we are exposing the basic incompetence of the head of the administration.

 

[ncguy]

If the US bombing of the Iranian uranium processing sites was unsuccessful that would be a bad thing for the US.

Some (many?) on the Left do seem to be cheering for that outcome purely out of hatred for Trump.


I do get/understand the hatred of Trump. He's a dick. And he sucks. But it isn't a good look to be rooting for US failure just because of the jackass in the White House.

..

Can you point out anyone cheering for an unsuccessful raid?
Names and posts showing that please

 

[rhinefire]

Yet not a single person has gone into the target area to confirm one single claim of both sides. The internet is the destroyed of the concept of "wait and see".