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Israeli Official Says Some of Iran’s Highly Enriched Uranium Likely Survived US Strikes: Report
A satellite image shows airstrike craters over the underground centrifuge halls of Iran’s Natanz Enrichment Facility following US airstrikes amid the Iran-Israel conflict, June 22, 2025. Photo: Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
Israeli intelligence officials have reportedly concluded that parts of Iran’s underground stockpile of highly enriched uranium likely survived last month’s US-Israeli strikes, reviving questions about how severely the attacks degraded Tehran’s nuclear capabilities.
According to the New York Times, a senior Israeli official said the country believes some of Iran’s 60% enriched uranium remains accessible at nuclear sites that were buried too deep to be destroyed in last month’s strikes.
Although Israel has long monitored Tehran’s nuclear program, the Israeli official said Iran intensified its push toward developing a nuclear weapon after Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah was killed last September.
Last month, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a sweeping military campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities and neutralizing what officials described as an imminent nuclear threat.
Israel’s campaign of airstrikes and covert sabotage from within Iran came on the 61st day of a 60-day deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Tehran to secure a deal through diplomacy to curb the country’s nuclear activities.
The US joined Israel’s airstrike campaign against Tehran by launching a large-scale military operation that destroyed three key nuclear enrichment facilities — Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow — ultimately leading to a US-brokered ceasefire.
In the aftermath of the strikes, intelligence and media reports on the extent of damage to Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been inconsistent and often contradictory.
According to Rafael Grossi, the head of UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran could resume producing enriched uranium within months.
Several experts have also warned that Iran likely relocated its stockpile of near-weapons-grade highly enriched uranium from the targeted sites ahead of the strikes and may now be concealing it elsewhere.
These assessments raised doubts about the effectiveness of US strikes aimed at crippling Tehran’s nuclear program.
However, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last month he was unaware of any intelligence indicating that Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to protect it from US strikes, with preliminary assessments suggesting the attacks may have delayed Iran’s nuclear program by several months.
Other US intelligence officials have reported that Tehran’s nuclear sites were “severely damaged” during the American airstrikes.
Last week, the Pentagon announced that US strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program by as much as two years, indicating that the military operation likely met its objectives despite other assessments.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghci, meanwhile, acknowledged that the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities during last month’s attacks was significant, but also said the regime was still assessing its full extent.
President Trump has said he would consider carrying out further strikes on Iran if US intelligence reveals new concerns about the country’s uranium enrichment program.
The post Israeli Official Says Some of Iran’s Highly Enriched Uranium Likely Survived US Strikes: Report first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.