Iran vs Israel/US: 6/21 USA bombed 3 nuclear plants in Iran, ceasefire agreed 6/24(iran restocking and retooling)..Israel looking to attack again, smh
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As I think of something I come post it
This another one of them thoughts…
Every media channels has pictures of the destroy nuclear site soon as day broke this morning.
we haven’t seen no satellite photos of neither Israeli military bases from them. We haven’t seen pretty much nothing from the Haifa port. It’s been a fucking week, yet no detailed photos.
Bibi and em’ have to choose what to shoot down but everything is being intercepted.
but Iran is getting fucked up
Now they might’ve showed that hospital being destroyed. They show that like it was a direct hit even tho allegedly shockwaves hit it
This another one of them thoughts…
Every media channels has pictures of the destroy nuclear site soon as day broke this morning.
we haven’t seen no satellite photos of neither Israeli military bases from them. We haven’t seen pretty much nothing from the Haifa port. It’s been a fucking week, yet no detailed photos.
Bibi and em’ have to choose what to shoot down but everything is being intercepted.
but Iran is getting fucked upNow they might’ve showed that hospital being destroyed. They show that like it was a direct hit even tho allegedly shockwaves hit it
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You have to remember that on top of being a opportunist, Trump is also a notorious idiot. He might have done this just to appease his own egoThere is a lot not adding up.
Like I said earlier, How Does Trump Benefit From This Financially.
Anybody remember this classic film?
I can see Trump pulling something like this with Isreal/Iran….
Rubio is the only one standing there that has enough common sense to know that they genuinely fucked up.
That, or they had already received word that the strikes weren't a huge success, so he knows that they're about to lie and, again, is the only one with enough experience to realize how big a mistake that might be.
I'd feel bad for him if he wasn't a total piece of shit that sold his soul to get where he is now.
My understanding is that it was mostly Saddam trash talking and chest thumping. As best I recall, even some of his own military leaders and supporters were shocked that he didn't have an actual secret plan to handle things. But who knows, really? That's just what got out.
And I know they can do plenty of damage without firing one shot. Which is why I was saying that I don't see how any of this translated into a winning move.
So yall think Iran can come outta this looking pretty good globally.
If they stress to the UN they followed each one of it resolutions
Keep leveling Israel but absolutely limit civilians deaths less chances of committing war crimes
Show restraint like they been doing…
I mean most political parties in Iran kinda rallying behind the IRGC
There’s sympathy abroad for them, they must build off of this
If they stress to the UN they followed each one of it resolutions
Keep leveling Israel but absolutely limit civilians deaths less chances of committing war crimes
Show restraint like they been doing…
I mean most political parties in Iran kinda rallying behind the IRGC
There’s sympathy abroad for them, they must build off of this
Probably have more Jewish black hats cults over America than anything…
There’s sewers in every city
This cult is creepy AF
These are just christians, christianing. Prove me wrong?
Seem like they wasn’t waiting for the last minute
Same with China they selling American bonds
Iran can rely on its huge gold reserves to withstand potential economic shocks arising from the ongoing Israeli aggression against the country, according to an economic expert.
Hassan Hassan Khani said on Sunday that Iran had imported more than 100 metric tons (mt) of gold in the calendar year to March to beef up its reserves.
He added that the country’s gold reserves have enhanced its ability to stabilize foreign currency prices and prevent forex shocks that can normally be caused by foreign sanctions and wars.
"In the current situation of the sanctions and the war, … such amount of gold can serve as a major tool to stabilize the markets," he was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Iranian customs office figures show that gold accounted for nearly 20% or more than $8 billion worth of imports into Iran in the year to late March.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said in March that the country was among the top five gold-buying nations of the world, saying that the lender had converted some 20% of its reserves to gold.
The surge in gold imports last calendar year came after the government cut imports tariffs on the bullion to zero to boost the country's reserves and to facilitate the return of funds held in other countries because of US sanctions.
The CBI has held several rounds of auctions to sell gold inside Iran in a bid to boost its rial holdings.
The lender said in March that it had sold a total of 17.845 mt of gold worth more than 1,000 trillion rials ($1.1 billion) during auctions held since mid-January.
Same with China they selling American bonds
Iran relying on gold reserves to prevent forex shocks amid imposed war: Expert
Sunday, 22 June 2025 6:15 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 22 June 2025 6:15 PM ]
Iran can rely on its huge gold reserves to withstand potential economic shocks arising from the ongoing Israeli aggression against the country, according to an economic expert.
Hassan Hassan Khani said on Sunday that Iran had imported more than 100 metric tons (mt) of gold in the calendar year to March to beef up its reserves.
He added that the country’s gold reserves have enhanced its ability to stabilize foreign currency prices and prevent forex shocks that can normally be caused by foreign sanctions and wars.
"In the current situation of the sanctions and the war, … such amount of gold can serve as a major tool to stabilize the markets," he was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Iranian customs office figures show that gold accounted for nearly 20% or more than $8 billion worth of imports into Iran in the year to late March.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said in March that the country was among the top five gold-buying nations of the world, saying that the lender had converted some 20% of its reserves to gold.
The surge in gold imports last calendar year came after the government cut imports tariffs on the bullion to zero to boost the country's reserves and to facilitate the return of funds held in other countries because of US sanctions.
The CBI has held several rounds of auctions to sell gold inside Iran in a bid to boost its rial holdings.
The lender said in March that it had sold a total of 17.845 mt of gold worth more than 1,000 trillion rials ($1.1 billion) during auctions held since mid-January.
DOJ say Trump didn’t need approval from Congress
**CNN citing a US Department of Justice official:**
• Trump carried out strikes against Iran under his authorities and in accordance with the Constitution
• Bombing 3 nuclear sites does not rise to the level requiring Congressional approval
**CNN citing a US Department of Justice official:**
• Trump carried out strikes against Iran under his authorities and in accordance with the Constitution
• Bombing 3 nuclear sites does not rise to the level requiring Congressional approval
This. Gaza had a large christian population and Israel said F*** em and slaughtered them.
Iran fucking Israel up
The China-Iran rail corridor, operational since May 2025, cuts trade time from 40 days by sea to 15 days by land, linking Urumqi, China, to Tehran via Central Asia. Part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, it boosts economic ties, especially for Iran under sanctions, and bypasses U.S.-controlled sea routes like the Malacca Strait.
It may increase oil exports to China, potentially exceeding 2 million barrels daily. However, political volatility, security risks like sabotage, and technical issues challenge its viability. Geopolitically, it strengthens China's influence, raising Western concerns, but no evidence supports claims of it sparking war.
Economic benefits are promising, yet long-term sustainability is debated.
DUI-Hire Secretary of Defense 
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on Sunday.Credit...Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A day after President Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely and totally obliterated” by American bunker-busting bombs and a barrage of missiles, the actual state of the program seemed far more murky, with senior officials conceding they did not know the fate of Iran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.
“We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel and that’s one of the things that we’re going to have conversations with the Iranians about,” Vice President JD Vance told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, referring to a batch of uranium sufficient to make nine or 10 atomic weapons. Nonetheless, he contended that the country’s potential to weaponize that fuel had been set back substantially because it no longer had the equipment to turn that fuel into operative weapons.
The Iranians have made it clear they are not interested in having conversations with the United States, accusing Washington of deceiving Tehran during the last set of negotiations while planning the air attack. Moreover, that stockpile of fuel is now one of the few nuclear bargaining chips in Iranian hands.
In a briefing for reporters on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, avoided Mr. Trump’s maximalist claims of success. They said an initial battle-damage assessment of all three sites struck by Air Force B-2 bombers and Navy Tomahawk missiles showed “severe damage and destruction.”
Satellite photographs of the primary target, the Fordo uranium enrichment plant that Iran built under a mountain, showed several holes where a dozen 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators — one of the largest conventional bombs in the U.S. arsenal — punched deep holes in the rock. The Israeli military’s initial analysis concluded that the site, the target of American and Israeli military planners for more than 26 years, sustained serious damage from the strike but had not been completely destroyed.
But there was also evidence, according to two Israeli officials with knowledge of the intelligence, that Iran had moved equipment and uranium from the site in recent days. And there was growing evidence that the Iranians, attuned to Mr. Trump’s repeated threats to take military action, had removed 400 kilograms, or roughly 880 pounds, of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity. That is just below the 90 percent that is usually used in nuclear weapons.
The 60-percent enriched fuel had been stored deep inside another nuclear complex, near the ancient capital of Isfahan. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said by text that the fuel had last been seen by his teams of United Nations inspectors about a week before Israel began its attacks on Iran. In an interview on CNN on Sunday he added that “Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material.”
Asked by text later in the day whether he meant that the fuel stockpile — which is stored in special casks small enough to fit in the trunks of about 10 cars — had been moved, he replied, “I do.” That appeared to be the mystery about the fuel’s fate that Mr. Vance was discussing.
If so, Isfahan would not be the only place where the custodians of the Iranian nuclear program — a subject of nationalistic pride and the symbol of Iran’s ability to defend itself — were trying to move equipment and material out of sight, and harden the Fordo plant to protect what had to stay in place.
Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies at the tunnels leading into the Fordo mountain, taken in the days before the American strike, show 16 cargo trucks positioned near an entrance. An analysis by the Open Source Centre in London suggested that Iran may have been preparing the site for a strike.
It is unclear exactly what, if anything, was removed from the facility.
In fact, there was only so much the Iranians could save. The giant centrifuges that spin at supersonic speeds, purifying uranium, are piped together and bolted to the cement floor. One U.S. official said it would have been unrealistic to completely move equipment out of Fordo after the conflict with Israel began.
The official added that historical documents about the nuclear program were buried in the bowels of the site, likely complicating any efforts in reconstituting it. In coming days, both the Iranians and intelligence agencies expect to learn more about the Natanz enrichment site, which is older, larger and less well protected than Fordo. It was struck by the Israelis repeatedly, and they destroyed an aboveground enrichment center and disrupted the electrical system. Mr. Grossi later said he believed the interruption of the electrical supply could have sent the centrifuges spinning out of control, probably destroying all of them.
How long it would take the Iranians to repair and replace that equipment is unknown; it would probably stretch for years. But Iran is also building a new, deep replacement for Natanz in the south of the city. Officials in Tehran have told the I.A.E. A. that they have not yet opened the plant, so there is nothing to see.
If Iran is truly pursuing a nuclear weapon — which it officially denies — it is taking more time than any nuclear-armed nation in history. The United States developed the Manhattan Project in four years or so, developing the bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war in the Pacific. The Soviet Union conducted its first test in 1949, only four years later. India, Pakistan and Israel all sped the process.
The Iranians have been at it for more than 20 years, and an archive of data stolen from a Tehran warehouse by Israel a number of years ago showed that Iranian engineers were exploring nuclear triggers and other equipment that would only be used to detonate a weapon. That was around 2003, when, according to American intelligence, the engineers received instructions to halt work on weaponization.
Comments by Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days suggest they believe that work has resumed, though no evidence to support the contention has been made public. If so, the strikes on Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan may only reinforce the view among Iranian leaders that they need a weapon for survival of the government.
History also suggests that diplomacy has usually been more effective than sabotage or military attacks in providing assurances that a country does not pursue atomic weapons. More than 15 years ago, the joint U.S.- Israeli attack on Natanz, using a sophisticated cyber weapon, caused about a fifth of the country’s 5,000 or so centrifuges to blow up.
But the Iranians not only rebuilt, they installed more sophisticated equipment. Before Israel’s attack this month, they had roughly 19,000 centrifuges in operation.
It was only when the Obama administration struck the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the United States got a fuller picture of its capabilities, thanks to the work of inspectors. And those inspections were choked off — and many security cameras disabled — after Mr. Trump declared the nuclear accord a “disaster” and withdrew from it.
Tehran’s reaction was to scale up centrifuge production, enrich uranium at levels only weapons states need, and stonewall the I.A.E.A.
Now, it is unclear whether the team of I.A.E.A. inspectors who were in the country when the conflict with Israel broke out will be permitted by the Iranian government to resume their inspections, which would include verifying the whereabouts and the safety of that near-bomb-grade uranium.
All international inspections have been suspended during wartime, Iranian officials have said. And even if they were to resume, it was unclear the inspectors could physically gain access to the bombed Fordo underground plant, or the wreckage of the larger enrichment facility at Natanz.
Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official in the first Trump administration and a former C.I.A. officer, said of the strike: “With the type and amount of munitions used, it will likely set back the Iranian nuclear weapon program two to five years.”
U.S. officials concede they don’t know the whereabouts of Iran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.
Image
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on Sunday.Credit...Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A day after President Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely and totally obliterated” by American bunker-busting bombs and a barrage of missiles, the actual state of the program seemed far more murky, with senior officials conceding they did not know the fate of Iran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.
“We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel and that’s one of the things that we’re going to have conversations with the Iranians about,” Vice President JD Vance told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, referring to a batch of uranium sufficient to make nine or 10 atomic weapons. Nonetheless, he contended that the country’s potential to weaponize that fuel had been set back substantially because it no longer had the equipment to turn that fuel into operative weapons.
The Iranians have made it clear they are not interested in having conversations with the United States, accusing Washington of deceiving Tehran during the last set of negotiations while planning the air attack. Moreover, that stockpile of fuel is now one of the few nuclear bargaining chips in Iranian hands.
In a briefing for reporters on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, avoided Mr. Trump’s maximalist claims of success. They said an initial battle-damage assessment of all three sites struck by Air Force B-2 bombers and Navy Tomahawk missiles showed “severe damage and destruction.”
Satellite photographs of the primary target, the Fordo uranium enrichment plant that Iran built under a mountain, showed several holes where a dozen 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators — one of the largest conventional bombs in the U.S. arsenal — punched deep holes in the rock. The Israeli military’s initial analysis concluded that the site, the target of American and Israeli military planners for more than 26 years, sustained serious damage from the strike but had not been completely destroyed.
But there was also evidence, according to two Israeli officials with knowledge of the intelligence, that Iran had moved equipment and uranium from the site in recent days. And there was growing evidence that the Iranians, attuned to Mr. Trump’s repeated threats to take military action, had removed 400 kilograms, or roughly 880 pounds, of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity. That is just below the 90 percent that is usually used in nuclear weapons.
The 60-percent enriched fuel had been stored deep inside another nuclear complex, near the ancient capital of Isfahan. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said by text that the fuel had last been seen by his teams of United Nations inspectors about a week before Israel began its attacks on Iran. In an interview on CNN on Sunday he added that “Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material.”
Asked by text later in the day whether he meant that the fuel stockpile — which is stored in special casks small enough to fit in the trunks of about 10 cars — had been moved, he replied, “I do.” That appeared to be the mystery about the fuel’s fate that Mr. Vance was discussing.
If so, Isfahan would not be the only place where the custodians of the Iranian nuclear program — a subject of nationalistic pride and the symbol of Iran’s ability to defend itself — were trying to move equipment and material out of sight, and harden the Fordo plant to protect what had to stay in place.
Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies at the tunnels leading into the Fordo mountain, taken in the days before the American strike, show 16 cargo trucks positioned near an entrance. An analysis by the Open Source Centre in London suggested that Iran may have been preparing the site for a strike.
It is unclear exactly what, if anything, was removed from the facility.
In fact, there was only so much the Iranians could save. The giant centrifuges that spin at supersonic speeds, purifying uranium, are piped together and bolted to the cement floor. One U.S. official said it would have been unrealistic to completely move equipment out of Fordo after the conflict with Israel began.
The official added that historical documents about the nuclear program were buried in the bowels of the site, likely complicating any efforts in reconstituting it. In coming days, both the Iranians and intelligence agencies expect to learn more about the Natanz enrichment site, which is older, larger and less well protected than Fordo. It was struck by the Israelis repeatedly, and they destroyed an aboveground enrichment center and disrupted the electrical system. Mr. Grossi later said he believed the interruption of the electrical supply could have sent the centrifuges spinning out of control, probably destroying all of them.
How long it would take the Iranians to repair and replace that equipment is unknown; it would probably stretch for years. But Iran is also building a new, deep replacement for Natanz in the south of the city. Officials in Tehran have told the I.A.E. A. that they have not yet opened the plant, so there is nothing to see.
If Iran is truly pursuing a nuclear weapon — which it officially denies — it is taking more time than any nuclear-armed nation in history. The United States developed the Manhattan Project in four years or so, developing the bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war in the Pacific. The Soviet Union conducted its first test in 1949, only four years later. India, Pakistan and Israel all sped the process.
The Iranians have been at it for more than 20 years, and an archive of data stolen from a Tehran warehouse by Israel a number of years ago showed that Iranian engineers were exploring nuclear triggers and other equipment that would only be used to detonate a weapon. That was around 2003, when, according to American intelligence, the engineers received instructions to halt work on weaponization.
Comments by Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days suggest they believe that work has resumed, though no evidence to support the contention has been made public. If so, the strikes on Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan may only reinforce the view among Iranian leaders that they need a weapon for survival of the government.
History also suggests that diplomacy has usually been more effective than sabotage or military attacks in providing assurances that a country does not pursue atomic weapons. More than 15 years ago, the joint U.S.- Israeli attack on Natanz, using a sophisticated cyber weapon, caused about a fifth of the country’s 5,000 or so centrifuges to blow up.
But the Iranians not only rebuilt, they installed more sophisticated equipment. Before Israel’s attack this month, they had roughly 19,000 centrifuges in operation.
It was only when the Obama administration struck the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the United States got a fuller picture of its capabilities, thanks to the work of inspectors. And those inspections were choked off — and many security cameras disabled — after Mr. Trump declared the nuclear accord a “disaster” and withdrew from it.
Tehran’s reaction was to scale up centrifuge production, enrich uranium at levels only weapons states need, and stonewall the I.A.E.A.
Now, it is unclear whether the team of I.A.E.A. inspectors who were in the country when the conflict with Israel broke out will be permitted by the Iranian government to resume their inspections, which would include verifying the whereabouts and the safety of that near-bomb-grade uranium.
All international inspections have been suspended during wartime, Iranian officials have said. And even if they were to resume, it was unclear the inspectors could physically gain access to the bombed Fordo underground plant, or the wreckage of the larger enrichment facility at Natanz.
Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official in the first Trump administration and a former C.I.A. officer, said of the strike: “With the type and amount of munitions used, it will likely set back the Iranian nuclear weapon program two to five years.”
DUI-Hire Secretary of Defense
U.S. officials concede they don’t know the whereabouts of Iran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.
Image
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on Sunday.Credit...Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A day after President Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely and totally obliterated” by American bunker-busting bombs and a barrage of missiles, the actual state of the program seemed far more murky, with senior officials conceding they did not know the fate of Iran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.
“We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel and that’s one of the things that we’re going to have conversations with the Iranians about,” Vice President JD Vance told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, referring to a batch of uranium sufficient to make nine or 10 atomic weapons. Nonetheless, he contended that the country’s potential to weaponize that fuel had been set back substantially because it no longer had the equipment to turn that fuel into operative weapons.
The Iranians have made it clear they are not interested in having conversations with the United States, accusing Washington of deceiving Tehran during the last set of negotiations while planning the air attack. Moreover, that stockpile of fuel is now one of the few nuclear bargaining chips in Iranian hands.
In a briefing for reporters on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, avoided Mr. Trump’s maximalist claims of success. They said an initial battle-damage assessment of all three sites struck by Air Force B-2 bombers and Navy Tomahawk missiles showed “severe damage and destruction.”
Satellite photographs of the primary target, the Fordo uranium enrichment plant that Iran built under a mountain, showed several holes where a dozen 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators — one of the largest conventional bombs in the U.S. arsenal — punched deep holes in the rock. The Israeli military’s initial analysis concluded that the site, the target of American and Israeli military planners for more than 26 years, sustained serious damage from the strike but had not been completely destroyed.
But there was also evidence, according to two Israeli officials with knowledge of the intelligence, that Iran had moved equipment and uranium from the site in recent days. And there was growing evidence that the Iranians, attuned to Mr. Trump’s repeated threats to take military action, had removed 400 kilograms, or roughly 880 pounds, of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity. That is just below the 90 percent that is usually used in nuclear weapons.
The 60-percent enriched fuel had been stored deep inside another nuclear complex, near the ancient capital of Isfahan. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said by text that the fuel had last been seen by his teams of United Nations inspectors about a week before Israel began its attacks on Iran. In an interview on CNN on Sunday he added that “Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material.”
Asked by text later in the day whether he meant that the fuel stockpile — which is stored in special casks small enough to fit in the trunks of about 10 cars — had been moved, he replied, “I do.” That appeared to be the mystery about the fuel’s fate that Mr. Vance was discussing.
If so, Isfahan would not be the only place where the custodians of the Iranian nuclear program — a subject of nationalistic pride and the symbol of Iran’s ability to defend itself — were trying to move equipment and material out of sight, and harden the Fordo plant to protect what had to stay in place.
Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies at the tunnels leading into the Fordo mountain, taken in the days before the American strike, show 16 cargo trucks positioned near an entrance. An analysis by the Open Source Centre in London suggested that Iran may have been preparing the site for a strike.
It is unclear exactly what, if anything, was removed from the facility.
In fact, there was only so much the Iranians could save. The giant centrifuges that spin at supersonic speeds, purifying uranium, are piped together and bolted to the cement floor. One U.S. official said it would have been unrealistic to completely move equipment out of Fordo after the conflict with Israel began.
The official added that historical documents about the nuclear program were buried in the bowels of the site, likely complicating any efforts in reconstituting it. In coming days, both the Iranians and intelligence agencies expect to learn more about the Natanz enrichment site, which is older, larger and less well protected than Fordo. It was struck by the Israelis repeatedly, and they destroyed an aboveground enrichment center and disrupted the electrical system. Mr. Grossi later said he believed the interruption of the electrical supply could have sent the centrifuges spinning out of control, probably destroying all of them.
How long it would take the Iranians to repair and replace that equipment is unknown; it would probably stretch for years. But Iran is also building a new, deep replacement for Natanz in the south of the city. Officials in Tehran have told the I.A.E. A. that they have not yet opened the plant, so there is nothing to see.
If Iran is truly pursuing a nuclear weapon — which it officially denies — it is taking more time than any nuclear-armed nation in history. The United States developed the Manhattan Project in four years or so, developing the bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war in the Pacific. The Soviet Union conducted its first test in 1949, only four years later. India, Pakistan and Israel all sped the process.
The Iranians have been at it for more than 20 years, and an archive of data stolen from a Tehran warehouse by Israel a number of years ago showed that Iranian engineers were exploring nuclear triggers and other equipment that would only be used to detonate a weapon. That was around 2003, when, according to American intelligence, the engineers received instructions to halt work on weaponization.
Comments by Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days suggest they believe that work has resumed, though no evidence to support the contention has been made public. If so, the strikes on Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan may only reinforce the view among Iranian leaders that they need a weapon for survival of the government.
History also suggests that diplomacy has usually been more effective than sabotage or military attacks in providing assurances that a country does not pursue atomic weapons. More than 15 years ago, the joint U.S.- Israeli attack on Natanz, using a sophisticated cyber weapon, caused about a fifth of the country’s 5,000 or so centrifuges to blow up.
But the Iranians not only rebuilt, they installed more sophisticated equipment. Before Israel’s attack this month, they had roughly 19,000 centrifuges in operation.
It was only when the Obama administration struck the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the United States got a fuller picture of its capabilities, thanks to the work of inspectors. And those inspections were choked off — and many security cameras disabled — after Mr. Trump declared the nuclear accord a “disaster” and withdrew from it.
Tehran’s reaction was to scale up centrifuge production, enrich uranium at levels only weapons states need, and stonewall the I.A.E.A.
Now, it is unclear whether the team of I.A.E.A. inspectors who were in the country when the conflict with Israel broke out will be permitted by the Iranian government to resume their inspections, which would include verifying the whereabouts and the safety of that near-bomb-grade uranium.
All international inspections have been suspended during wartime, Iranian officials have said. And even if they were to resume, it was unclear the inspectors could physically gain access to the bombed Fordo underground plant, or the wreckage of the larger enrichment facility at Natanz.
Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official in the first Trump administration and a former C.I.A. officer, said of the strike: “With the type and amount of munitions used, it will likely set back the Iranian nuclear weapon program two to five years.”
Bibi knows lol
Malcolm X knew....
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