Iranian authorities confirm: nuclear facilities "severely damaged" in US airstrike

According to media reports, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Iran's nuclear facilities were "seriously damaged" in the US airstrikes, but he did not provide further details. This is the first time Iran has admitted to the damage caused by the US airstrikes on its nuclear facilities last weekend. On June 21st local time, US military jets struck three Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. That evening, US President Trump announced that Iran's key nuclear facilities had been "completely destroyed." In the early hours of June 22nd local time, Iran stated that they had already evacuated and transferred materials from the three nuclear facilities some time ago, so the US attacks did not cause significant damage. The Iranian National Nuclear Safety Center stated that they immediately conducted investigations to assess whether there was any nuclear contamination in the areas affected by the US strikes, and confirmed that there were currently no signs of contamination. However, according to media reports on June 24th, a confidential preliminary intelligence assessment provided by a US Department of Defense agency indicated that the US military strikes did not destroy Iranian nuclear facilities, and may have only delayed Iran's nuclear program development for a few months. The assessment report from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the US strikes did not destroy the core areas of the three Iranian nuclear facilities, and the centrifuges used for uranium enrichment remained intact. It was also reported that the US strikes only sealed off the entrances to the two facilities and did not destroy the underground structures. The development of Iran's nuclear program may be delayed, but the delay is not expected to exceed 6 months. President Trump and Secretary of Defense Esper denied these claims, insisting that the US attacks "completely destroyed" the Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump angrily denounced the reports as "fake news" on social media, emphasizing: "Iran's nuclear facilities have been completely destroyed!" White House press secretary Caroline Levitt also responded by saying: "This so-called assessment report is completely wrong." There are reports that the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran is deeply buried underground, with multiple entrances that are difficult to distinguish between real and fake, and the structure is heavily fortified and highly confidential. Even satellite images or high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft may provide limited information on the extent of the damage.