Iran on Wednesday for the first time admitted that recent US strikes "badly damaged" its nuclear installations.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the June 22 strikes by American B-2 bombers using bunker-buster munitions had caused significant destruction.
“Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure,” Baghaei said, while declining to provide further details.
The admission comes after US President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, also told Fox News that the US and Israel had achieved their objective of “total destruction of the enrichment capacity” in Iran. He added that Iran’s earlier precondition for talks — an end to Israel’s military campaign — had now been addressed.
Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been “set back decades,” just a day after announcing a truce between Iran and Israel.
“They’re not going to be building bombs for a long time,” Trump said, insisting that US strikes had caused the “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Drawing a parallel with World War II, Trump said, “That ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war.”
The reference was to the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, which led to Japan’s surrender and the end of the Pacific theatre in World War II.
Commenting on the possibility of Iran resuming uranium enrichment beyond permitted levels, Trump added, “I think they’ve had it. They just went through hell... the last thing they want to do is enrich.”
On June 22, the US carried out Operation Midnight Hammer , dropping 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on three key underground nuclear sites.
The attack was designed to deal a critical blow to Iran's uranium enrichment programme, in line with Trump's stance that Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
According to Pentagon figures, more than 125 aircraft participated in the mission, including stealth bombers, support planes, fighters and surveillance craft. A total of 75 precision weapons were used, including 14 bunker busters and over two dozen cruise missiles.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the June 22 strikes by American B-2 bombers using bunker-buster munitions had caused significant destruction.
“Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure,” Baghaei said, while declining to provide further details.
The admission comes after US President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, also told Fox News that the US and Israel had achieved their objective of “total destruction of the enrichment capacity” in Iran. He added that Iran’s earlier precondition for talks — an end to Israel’s military campaign — had now been addressed.
Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been “set back decades,” just a day after announcing a truce between Iran and Israel.
“They’re not going to be building bombs for a long time,” Trump said, insisting that US strikes had caused the “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Drawing a parallel with World War II, Trump said, “That ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war.”
The reference was to the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, which led to Japan’s surrender and the end of the Pacific theatre in World War II.
Commenting on the possibility of Iran resuming uranium enrichment beyond permitted levels, Trump added, “I think they’ve had it. They just went through hell... the last thing they want to do is enrich.”
On June 22, the US carried out Operation Midnight Hammer , dropping 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on three key underground nuclear sites.
The attack was designed to deal a critical blow to Iran's uranium enrichment programme, in line with Trump's stance that Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
According to Pentagon figures, more than 125 aircraft participated in the mission, including stealth bombers, support planes, fighters and surveillance craft. A total of 75 precision weapons were used, including 14 bunker busters and over two dozen cruise missiles.
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