Instead, the attack on three Iranian nuclear facilities is seen as only delaying Tehran's nuclear process for several months.
According to a preliminary report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in the Pentagon, most of the centers - a key equipment in the process of enriching uranium - are still intact. The report also revealed that part of Iran's uranium reserves had been evacuated before the US bomb fell.
President Donald Trump said the June 21 attack on Iran "completely erased" Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The 13-ton cluster bombs destroyed concrete and rock structures up to 60 meters deep.
However, an internal assessment from the Pentagon said the damage was mainly to structures on the ground and the facility entrance - which had been partially sealed or destroyed. The remaining, Iran's main underground areas remain almost intact.
According to the US Defense Intelligence Agency, Iran's nuclear program was delayed but not wiped out, "at most taking several months to recover".
Meanwhile, General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said after the attack that all three targets were severely damaged and showed satellite imagery showing six craters in Fordow. However, these photos cannot confirm the extent of the damage underground.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also said: The airstrike operation has destroyed Irans ability to produce nuclear weapons. Who says differently is just trying to overshadow the President's success".
Israeli officials say much of Iran's enriched uranium has been buried under the rubble. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed: "We have eliminated two existential threats: nuclear destruction and destruction by 20,000 ballistic missiles."
Meanwhile, Iranian state media confirmed that the airstrikes had been evacuated in advance, with no nuclear material there and that Tehran not suffering much damage.
Expert David Albright, head of the International Institute of Science and Security, said Tehran would have to invest heavily to restore its nuclear program. Iran is under extremely close scrutiny. Any restoration could lead to a second airstrike, he warned on social media X.
