Israel’s Attack has Not Damaged Iran’s Nuclear Program

Palestine Chronicle:
Israel’s attack on Iran ‘has not critically damaged Iran’s widely dispersed and heavily protected nuclear program,’ the Guardian reports.
Israel’s attack on key parts of Iran’s nuclear program, as well as its assassination of the country’s top nuclear scientists, may have been “a powerful display” of Israeli military dominance, but “has not critically damaged Iran’s widely dispersed and heavily protected nuclear program,” according to an analysis by The Guardian.
This is a view shared by Israeli military commanders and international nuclear proliferation experts, the paper said.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed Israel’s initial attacks had delayed Iran’s ability to “break out” or make a functioning nuclear weapon.
However, according to the paper, “far from curbing nuclear proliferation, Israel’s gamble on force could drive Iran to speed up its efforts to get a bomb”.
Long-Term Deal
Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi reportedly warned that Tel Aviv cannot dismantle Iran’s nuclear program alone, but that conditions could be created for a long-term deal “brokered by the US that would totally block Iran’s nuclear program.”
The Guardian noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would prefer US military cooperation to a diplomatic solution, “and has been encouraging” US President Donald Trump “to abandon the anti-war stance” that helped him win the election.
‘I May Do It’
US President Donald Trump declined to provide a definitive answer on Wednesday regarding the US joining Israeli strikes against Iran, stressing that he had given Iran a deadline and that next week would be decisive in this regard.
“I may do it, I may not do it”, Nobody knows what I want to do,” the US president told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, referring to the possibility of the United States becoming involved in the confrontation between Iran and Israel, which is witnessing an unprecedented military escalation between Iran and Israel.
Regarding the situation on the ground in Iran, Trump claimed Iran has “no air defense,” and emphasized that Israel “has complete control of Iran’s airspace and is doing very well.”
Trump continued by saying that he gave Iran two months to conclude a deal, but that it hadn’t done so, and that he was tired of the situation.

Although Trump asserted that it was too late to return to negotiations, he claimed that “Iran wants to make a deal with us,” and that the Iranians had proposed coming to the White House for that purpose, before adding, “There is still time to stop the war.”
However, in a social media post on Wednesday, Iran’s mission to the United Nations directly rebuked President Trump’s comments, stating: “No Iranian official has ever sought to grovel at the gates of the White House.”
Trump has also rejected a key US intelligence assessment on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, instead adopting the Israeli occupation’s hardline position.
The assessment, presented in March by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, concluded that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons and that Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei has not reauthorized such a program since 2003.
Trump dismissed the findings, stating, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.” His remarks echo those of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has consistently pushed for pre-emptive military action against Iran over its alleged nuclear ambitions.