Washington
CNN
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The bomb was probably ineffective as the US military didn’t use bunkerbuster bombs at one of Iran’s biggest nuclear sites last weekend, leading US top generals told the senators during a briefing on Thursday.
The comments by Chairman Dan Kane’s co-headed were written by the three people who heard what he said and the fourth person who was explained to them, but this is the first known explanation as to why the US military did not use large-scale weapon intruder bombs against the Isfahansite in central Iran. US officials believe that Isfahan’s underground structures house almost 60% of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.
The US B2 bombers have dropped 12 bunkerbuster bombs at Iran’s nuclear sites in Fordow and Natantz. However, Isfahan was only struck by a Tomahawk missile launched from a US submarine.
The classified briefing to lawmakers was conducted by Kane, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe. Caine’s spokesman did not return a request for comment.
Sen. Chris Murphy told CNN Thursday night after receiving a briefing that “some of Iran’s capabilities “we can never reach them.” So they have the ability to move much of what has been saved by an area that does not have the ability to bomb America to reach that.”
An early assessment prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency the day after the US strike said the attacks would not destroy the core elements of the country’s nuclear program, including rich uranium, and perhaps only reclaimed the program every few months. He also said that some of the enriched uranium may have moved from the site before Iran was attacked.
An official from Trump, who explained to lawmakers this week, avoided questions about where Iranian stockpiles already abundant uranium were. President Donald Trump again claimed Friday that nothing had moved from three Iranian sites before the US military could operate.
However, Republican lawmakers emerged from a briefing Thursday classified Thursday, acknowledging that US military strikes may not rule out all of Iran’s nuclear material. However, they insisted that doing so was not part of the military’s mission.
“There’s a wealth of uranium in the moving facilities, but that wasn’t an intention or mission,” Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCall told CNN. “My understanding is still there. So we need full accounting. So Iran has to come directly to the table with us, so (the International Atomic Energy Agency) can explain every ounce of rich uranium there.
“The purpose of the mission was to eliminate certain specific aspects of the nuclear program. They were eliminated. Removing nuclear material was not part of the mission,” GOP MP Greg Murphy told CNN.
“Here we are. The program has disappeared on these three sites. But they still have ambitions,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. “I don’t know where 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists. But that wasn’t part of the target there.”
“The (site) has disappeared. No one can use it immediately,” Graham said.
Jeffrey Lewis, an arms expert and professor at the Middlebury International Institute, told CNN that commercial satellite images show Iran accessing the tunnel in Isfahan.
“There was a medium number of vehicles in Isfahan on June 26th, and at least one of the tunnel entrances had been removed from the interference by mid-June 27th,” Lewis said. “If Iran’s (highly enriched uranium) stockpile was still in the tunnel, when Iran sealed the entrance, it might be somewhere else now.”
According to Lewis, additional satellite images captured by Planet Labs on June 27th show that the tunnel entrance was open at that time.
A preliminary DIA assessment noted that the terrestrial structure of the nuclear site has been moderately severely damaged, CNN reports. The damage could make Iran more difficult to access the enriched uranium remaining underground, sources said Graham hinted on Thursday.
“These strikes have caused a lot of damage to these three facilities,” Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told CNN on Thursday night. “But Iran still has the know-how to undo the nuclear program. And if they still have that rich material, if they still have the ability to move those centrifuges very quickly into what they call cascades, we set it up in a few months.”
Kane and Hegses said on Thursday that the military operation against Fordau went as planned but did not mention the impact on Isfahan and Natantz.
Manu Raju from CNN contributed to this report.