According to Washington, Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been set back by years… or at least until they find a new workshop and dust off their uranium manuals. CIA boss John Ratcliffe popped into a closed-door briefing last week to tell lawmakers that the US bombing campaign didn’t just ruffle a few desert pebbles—it levelled Iran’s only metal conversion facility, the bit you need if you’re serious about turning uranium gas into something more… explodey.
President Trump, never one to understate, described the strikes as “obliterating like nobody’s ever seen before”, which, coming from the man who’s seen a lot of obliteration (mostly of White House staff careers), is saying something.
The key target, Iran’s Isfahan site, is reportedly now just a memory and some very expensive rubble. Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile? Allegedly buried under all that debris. Their air defences? Apparently just as flat. The idea, according to US officials, is that even if Iran fancies rebuilding, Israeli jets will be able to pop back over and rearrange the new foundations whenever they like.
However, in true nuclear whack-a-mole fashion, UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi pointed out that while Iran’s equipment might be toast, their scientists still remember how it all works. In other words: You can bomb the lab, but you can’t bomb their A-level certificates.
Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing for diplomacy, presumably because bombing each other into a post-apocalyptic version of The Great British Bake Off isn’t exactly a long-term solution.
So, for now, Iran’s nuclear project is on pause. Whether that’s the kind of “pause” you get during an ad break or the kind that ends with a brand-new series… remains to be seen.
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