The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth, will hold a press conference on Thursday to offer a new assessment of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, after a sharp row on the amount of American bombardment that delayed Tehran’s nuclear program.
After the waves of Israeli attacks in nuclear and military sites and retaliation missile fire from Iran since June 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities on the weekend.
The scope of the damage in Iran, where Israel said he had acted to stop an imminent nuclear threat, has become the object of a deep disagreement in the United States.
An initial classified evaluation, first reported by CNNIt was said that it concluded that the strike did not destroy the key components and that Iran’s nuclear program was delayed only months.
Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, which prepares for the strike, moved about 400 kilograms of enriched uranium, which could now be hidden in another part of the vast country.
The US administration has responded furiously, with Trump saying repeatedly that the attack “erased” the nuclear facilities of Iran, including the key site of Fordo buried inside a mountain.
“I can tell him that the United States had no indications that this enriched uranium was transferred before strikes, as I also saw falsely reported,” said White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt Fox News.
“As for what is on the ground at this time, it is buried under miles and miles of debris due to the success of these strikes on Saturday night,” he said.
Trump said Hegseth, whom he called “War” secretary, would hold a press conference at 8 am (5 PM PKT) on Thursday to “fight for the dignity of our great American drivers.”
The head of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, said in a statement on Wednesday that “several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the years.”
The Israeli army said he had given a “significant” blow to Iran’s nuclear sites, but that it was “still early” to completely evaluate the damage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that “we have frustrated Iran’s nuclear project.”
“And if someone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to frustrate any attempt,” he said.
Nuclear conversations?
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei said Al Jazeera That “nuclear facilities have been seriously damaged, that’s safe.”
After the war derailed the nuclear conversations between Iran and the United States, Trump said that Washington would maintain discussions with Tehran next week, with its special envoy Steve Witkoff expressing hope “for a comprehensive peace agreement.”
Trump told reporters that Israel and Iran were “tired, exhausted”, before saying that conversations with Iran were planned next week.
“We can sign an agreement. I don’t know,” he added.
Iran has systematically denied having sought a nuclear weapon while defending its “legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic energy.
He has also said that he was willing to return to nuclear negotiations with Washington.
In both Iran and Israel, the authorities have gradually lifted the restrictions in times of war. Iran reopened on Wednesday the airspace over the east of the country, but without allowing flights to and from the capital Tehran.
In the Israeli coastal center of Tel Aviv, the 45 -year -old engineer Yossi Bin welcomed the Fire Alto: “Finally, we can sleep quietly. We feel better, less worried … and I hope it stays like this.”
State funeral
While Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war for decades, their 12 -day conflict was, with much, the most destructive confrontation between them.
Israeli attacks on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, said Tehran’s Ministry of Health.
Iran’s attacks against Israel killed 28 people, according to official figures.
According MEHR The news agency, the funeral of the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard Hossein Salami, who was killed in an Israeli strike, will no longer take place in his hometown on Thursday.
On the other hand, a state funeral will take place on Saturday in Tehran for the main commanders, including Salami and Nuclear scientists, killed in the war.
