Israel believes that Iran could potentially retrieve enriched uranium buried beneath one of the three facilities struck by US forces last month, according to a senior Israeli official, the BBC reports.
Speaking to US reporters, the official said that reaching the enriched uranium at Isfahan would be extremely difficult and any attempt would prompt renewed Israeli strikes.
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that US air and missile strikes on Iran in June “obliterated” the country’s nuclear facilities, even as some US intelligence agencies have taken a more cautious view.
Iran denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons and says its enrichment of uranium is for peaceful purposes.
In a briefing for reporters in Washington, the senior Israeli official – who declined to be named – said that intelligence indicates that much of Iran’s enriched uranium is buried at Isfahan, which was struck by submarine-launched cruise missiles during “Operation Midnight Hammer” on 22 June.
The official, however, did not express concern about the assessment, noting that any Iranian attempt to recover the material would probably be detected.
According to the official, Israel’s assessment is that Iran’s nuclear programme was set back two years.
