Israel Reportedly Concludes That Iranian Nuclear Engineers Could Access Some Of Its Enriched Uranium Despite Attacks

Israel reportedly concluded that some of Iran's enriched uranium survived the attacks the country conducted along with the U.S. and could be accessed by nuclear engineers.

Citing a senior Israeli officer, The New York times detailed that the country decided to strike its largest enemy after determining it had begun sprinting towards a nuclear bomb as part of a secret project.

The activity began to intensify after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon in an airstrike that also wiped out most of the Iran-backed group's leadership. Then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded that Israel would attack Iran with or without the help of the U.S. However, officials did share its intelligence with its most important ally.

The official, however, did not express concern about the possibility that the enriched uranium survived the attack, telling reporters that any attempts to recover it would likely be detected and met with swift action. The country has warned it will not hesitate to attack Iran again if it sees it moving to rebuild its nuclear program. Trump has echoed the message, saying at the nuclear summit at The Hague that the U.S.'s "achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material, which it won't."

Moreover, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said that centrifuges at Fordow, a key nuclear site buried deep underground were "no longer operative" following the U.S. attack.

Speaking to French radio, Rafael Grossi said evaluating the damage sustained by the facility using satellite imagery alone is difficult, but due to the power of the bombs and the plant's technical characteristics, "we already know that these centrifuges are no longer operational."

Grossi went on to say that centrifuges require a high degree of precision and are vulnerable to intense vibrations. "There was no escaping significant physical damage," Grossi added. "So we can come to a fairly accurate technical conclusion." Iran cut ties with the agency after the strike.

Grossi has also said that other U.S. attacks, on Isfahan sites, closed off entrances to underground facilities and appear to have destroyed laboratories that could turn uranium into a form used in a weapon, which would then be shaped into a warhead.

Originally published on Latin Times

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Iran, Israel, United States, Nuclear