Roving Periscope: Israel unsure if Trump’s bombers destroyed Iran’s n-assets fully!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: President Donald Trump, desperately trying to qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize, has dismissed fresh media reports suggesting that the US bunker busters’ strikes on Saturday last week did not fully destroy Iran nuclear program, the media reported on Wednesday.
He also claimed that the three key nuclear sites in Iran were ‘completely destroyed.’
Earlier on Tuesday, both Iran and Israel signalled that the air war between the two nations had ended, at least for now, after President Trump publicly scolded them for violating a ceasefire for which the two warring countries blamed each other, and said the ceasefire was “in effect.”
Like Trump taking the credit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also claimed that Israel had brought Iran’s nuclear programme “to ruin.” However, a new US intelligence report found that the program has been set back by only a few months after U.S. strikes over the weekend.
In recent days, numerous reports suggested that Iran had, prior to US bombings, already relocated 400 kg of enriched uranium, enough to make 10 nuclear bombs, to safety.
The Iran-Israel ceasefire is going well, Trump said ahead of meeting other world leaders at a NATO Summit in The Hague on Wednesday, adding that this was a ‘great victory for everybody.’
Asked if the US would strike again if Iran rebuilt its nuclear enrichment programme, the US President said: “Sure.”
Meanwhile, Pope Leo appealed to Iran and Israel on Wednesday not to pursue vengeance after their 12 days of conflict, which the US joined with airstrikes to support Israel to target Iran’s uranium-enrichment facilities.
“May all logic of oppression and revenge be rejected, and may the path of dialogue, diplomacy, and peace be chosen with determination,” the pontiff said in remarks at the end of his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square.
Even Israel seemed not too sure about the real impact of the 12-day war and US bombings in Iran. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said it is still “too early” to assess the damage to Iran’s nuclear program following the war.
“We met all the objectives of the operation as defined for us, even better than we thought. But it is still too early to determine; we are investigating the results of the strikes on the different sections of the nuclear program,” Defrin said at a press conference.
“The assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can say we set it back by years,” he said.
Last night, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that, “We have set Iran’s nuclear project back by years, and the same goes for its missile program.”
The media also reported that hackers backing Tehran have been targeting US banks, defence contractors and oil industry companies but so far have not caused any damage. However, this has prompted concerns of escalating cyberwarfare and the need for enhanced digital defences.
