A nuclear policy expert has cast serious doubt on Donald Trump’s bold claim that recent US airstrikes destroyed Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities.
Over the weekend, the US President announced that American forces had launched major precision strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
He confirmed the attack in a later national address, saying: “The US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear assemblies in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.
"For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs," Trump continued.
"That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate, in particular."
The 79-year-old said Iran "must now make peace," and warned that if they do not, "future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier".
He also echoed that message on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing: “Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.”
Vice President J.D. Vance echoed the sentiment, stating: “Our goal was to bury the uranium, and I do think the uranium is buried. But our goal was to eliminate the enrichment and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear weapon.”
However, during an interview on CNN, anchor Kate Bolduan noted that Vance “deflected” when pressed on whether the administration had actual proof that all enriched uranium had been destroyed or accounted for.
She then asked nuclear policy expert Jeffrey Lewis what metrics could even confirm such a claim. Lewis laughed in response, saying: “Yeah, none of that is true.
“The reality is, is the Iranians had lots of time to move things. We watched them bring trucks to the site. They buried the entrances to protect the site. So, if they had wanted to move the material, they certainly could have,” Lewis explained.
He added that Iran retains the ability to operate from multiple underground facilities, further undercutting the administration’s narrative.
“What you're seeing is the strike started, and the administration wanted to get involved with it. And so they're putting, basically, lipstick on a pig, you know? They do not have the ability to go after all this material, and they are ultimately going to need the cooperation of the Iranians. They're going to need some kind of diplomatic process,” he said.
The airstrikes occurred just before Trump announced what he described as a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Yet despite his declaration, regional violence has continued.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday (June 24), ahead of a NATO summit, the president expressed frustration with both nations.
“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before, the biggest load that we’ve seen,” he said. “I’m not happy with Israel."
Trump continued: "You don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either."
The POTUS didn’t mince words when he added: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing."