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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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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”