US DEFENCE
In the United States, leaked intelligence this week opened up a Pandora’s box of accusations and counter-claims over the extent of the damage caused by the strikes.
Later on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to offer a fresh assessment of the attacks.
After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since Jun 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities.
An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strikes did not destroy key components and that Iran’s nuclear programme was set back only months at most.
Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400kg of enriched uranium – which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country.
The US administration has hit back furiously, with Trump saying the attack “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordo buried inside a mountain, and that it had set the programme back by “decades”.
Trump said that Hegseth, whom he dubbed “war” secretary, would hold a news conference at 8am (8pm, Singapore time) on Thursday to “fight for the dignity of our great American pilots”.
CIA chief John Ratcliffe said in a statement on Wednesday that “several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years”.
The Israeli military said it had delivered a “significant” blow to Iran’s nuclear sites but that it was “still early” to fully assess the damage.
Netanyahu announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.
“And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,” he said.
