European intel says Iran’s enriched uranium ‘survived’ US attacks

Preliminary intelligence assessments shared with European governments indicate that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium remains largely intact following US strikes on its nuclear facilities last weekend, the Financial Times reported on 26 June, casting doubt on claims by US President Donald Trump that the operation “obliterated” Tehran’s nuclear program.

Officials familiar with the intelligence said that Iran’s 408 kilogram cache of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels was not concentrated at the Fordow facility – one of Iran’s main enrichment sites – but had already been dispersed to other locations. Fordow, located deep beneath a mountain near Qom, was a primary target in the US raid.

In a post on his Truth Social platform Thursday, Trump said, “Nothing was taken out of [the] facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!”

However, Iranian sources suggest the enriched uranium was relocated prior to the attack.

The US deployed bunker-buster bombs against Fordow and Natanz and fired cruise missiles at Isfahan, a site used in uranium conversion and storage.

While satellite images of Fordow show sealed tunnel entrances and significant surface damage, EU officials say full structural destruction has not been confirmed.

An earlier leaked US intelligence report, which assessed the strike would delay Iran’s program by only a few months, was criticized by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who labeled it a “low-confidence assessment.”

Israel, meanwhile, claimed the joint US-Israeli operation had set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions “by many years.” But nuclear experts caution that if Iran has retained enriched uranium and hidden advanced centrifuges, it could still produce weapons-grade fissile material relatively quickly.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told French Radio that while Iran’s program had suffered “enormous damage,” the idea of total destruction was “overblown.”

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Before the strikes, Trump’s administration had been engaged in indirect talks with Tehran over a potential deal to limit its nuclear activity. On Wednesday, Trump said negotiations might resume soon but added that a deal “might not be needed” after the strikes.

Fordow had previously been Iran’s primary site for enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, just short of weapons-grade. While Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile exceeds 8,400 kilograms, most is enriched at lower levels.

We remind our readers that publication of articles on our site does not mean that we agree with what is written. Our policy is to publish anything which we consider of interest, so as to assist our readers  in forming their opinions. Sometimes we even publish articles with which we totally disagree, since we believe it is important for our readers to be informed on as wide a spectrum of views as possible.