Pentagon: Iran’s nuclear ambitions delayed up to two years after US bombing

The United States’ recent airstrikes on Iran have pushed back the country’s nuclear program by at least one to two years, with the more likely estimate being closer to two years, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson.

Speaking at a press briefing on July 2, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the assessment of the damage inflicted on Iran’s key nuclear facilities — including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — remains unchanged, Caliber.Az reports via the New York Post.

“We believe, and certainly all of the intelligence that we’ve seen has led us to believe, that those facilities, especially, have been completely obliterated,” Parnell told reporters.

US allies reportedly share the Department of Defence’s internal assessment regarding the success of the strikes, particularly the belief that the operation has significantly set back Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon.

“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least,” Parnell emphasised.

The strikes were part of Operation Midnight Hammer, a coordinated military assault carried out on June 22 targeting Iran’s uranium enrichment infrastructure. The operation involved multiple B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropping 14 bunker-buster bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds, on the underground facilities. The air assault was accompanied by dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a US submarine, delivering a powerful blow to Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

President Donald Trump ordered the strikes following intelligence reports indicating that Iran was approaching the threshold of developing a nuclear weapon. The decision came after more than a week of escalating military exchanges between Tehran and Israel.

In a subsequent interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said the strikes marked “the end to [Iran’s] nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time.”

The Pentagon’s latest assessment contrasts sharply with an earlier, leaked preliminary analysis of Operation Midnight Hammer that circulated in Washington last month. That classified report, produced by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and later reported by The New York Times and CNN, suggested that Iran could potentially resume uranium enrichment in as little as one to two months, with the upper end of estimates suggesting a restart within one year.

The initial DIA assessment triggered criticism from Trump and senior administration officials, who argued that the intelligence underestimated the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The Pentagon now insists that its more thorough evaluations show a far greater setback for Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Parnell underscored that both US and allied intelligence agencies have revised their projections, agreeing that Iran faces significant obstacles in reconstituting its program anytime soon.

The strikes on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—sites central to Iran’s uranium enrichment operations—were described as having “obliterated” the physical infrastructure necessary for nuclear development, requiring Iran to rebuild complex facilities from scratch.

By Tamilla Hasanova