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Donald Trump hailed the recent strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as a major success, claiming they caused “monumental damage” and achieved a precise “bullseye” impact.
Supporters of President Donald Trump hold pro-Trump flags at Times Square, New York (Photo: AP)
US President Donald Trump on Monday lauded the military of his country for strikes in Iran, and claimed the strikes hit the “bullseye” and caused “monumental damage” to the nuclear sites in Iran.
Referring to satellite images of the damage, Trump said that “obliteration” was the accurate term to define the impact.
“Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame,” he added.
“The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” the US President wrote.
DOUBTS REMAIN
An analysis of satellite photos of the Fordow nuclear plant showed six holes where the bunker-busting bombs appear to have penetrated the mountain, and then ground that looks disturbed and covered in dust.
Though commercial satellite imagery indicated the US attack on Fordow nuclear plant had severely damaged, or possibly destroyed, the deeply-buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, there was no confirmationReuters quoted experts as saying on Sunday.
David Albright, a former United Nations nuclear inspector, who heads the Institute for Science and International Security, said the United States “just punched through with these MOPs” (Massive Ordnance Penetrators) – the bunker-busting bombs that the US said it dropped.
“I would expect that the facility is probably toast,” Albright was quoted as saying.
The confirmation of the below-ground destruction could not be determined, the report also quoted Decker Eveleth, an associate researcher with the CNA Corporation who specialises in satellite imagery, as saying.
The hall containing hundreds of centrifuges is “too deeply buried for us to evaluate the level of damage based on satellite imagery,” he said.
Meanwhile, US defence officials also said they were working to determine just how much damage the strikes did, contrary to Trump’s claims that the damage to all nuclear sites in Iran was “monumental”.
Iran is also believed to have filled in tunnels at its underground Fordow enrichment facility before the American strike. That may have been to protect the sites from the strikes.
The US cruise missile strike at the Isfahan site likely destroyed its uranium conversion facility, the Institute for Science and International Security said.
That facility takes natural uranium and turns it into uranium hexafluoride, which is what Iran spins in centrifuges to enrich.
ALSO READ | ‘Why Wouldn’t There Be Regime Change’: Trump’s ‘Make Iran Great Again’ Post After US Strikes
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
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