Iran Admits Damage to Fordow – Summary and Key Points – Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, acknowledged in a CBS News interview this week that the recent US and Israeli strikes “seriously and heavily damaged” the Fordow nuclear facility.
-This admission comes amid a war of words between the White House and US media over the true extent of the damage.
-While President Trump insists the sites were “completely and totally obliterated,” leaked intelligence assessments suggest a more limited setback of only a few months.
-Araghchi’s comments add another layer of complexity, confirming significant damage but stopping short of endorsing Trump’s “obliteration” narrative, leaving the program’s ultimate status uncertain.
Fordow was “Seriously and Heavily Damaged,” Iranian Foreign Minister Says
What was the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, and specifically the heavily fortified Fordow facility, following the attacks by the U.S. and Israel?
The answer appears to be “nobody knows yet,” although the true answer likely depends on who you believe.
According to new comments by Iran’s foreign minister, the facility was “seriously and heavily damaged.”
Reuters reported, citing a CBS News interview, that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has shared his assessment of the damage.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araqchi said in the interview, which CBS broadcast on Tuesday.
“The Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran… is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government.”
The interview shows that Iran’s government isn’t denying that the damage is extensive. However, what they’re saying is very different from what’s coming out of the White House.
Fordow “Obliterated”
President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly maintained, since the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, that those facilities, and with it Iran’s capability to develop nuclear weapons, have been “completely and totally obliterated.”
The White House has refused to entertain any possibility that the strikes accomplished anything less than that, including trashing both media outlets that have reported any ambiguity about the strikes, as well as the sources who have leaked such information. Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and others have sought to categorize any question about the “obliteration” of the nuclear sites as a personal insult to the pilots who carried out the mission.
“They put their lives on the line and then they have, and I’m not referring to you, but real scum,” Trump told an NBC reporter, in the days after the U.S. attack. “Real scum come out and write reports that are as negative as they could possibly be.”
Ambiguous Reports
Different reports since the U.S. strikes have said different things. Days later, a Defense Intelligence Agency preliminary report was reported on by CNN, stating that the U.S. strikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear sites, and may have only set Tehran’s nuclear ambitions back by months.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN in a statement that the assessment was “leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.”
Also, the Washington Post reported last weekend about an intercepted communication, in which Iranian officials were heard commenting that the U.S. attack was “less devastating than they had expected.”
Leavitt, once again, commented on that by attacking the leakers.
“The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense,” the press secretary said. “Their nuclear weapons program is over.”
Why Trump Says So
Last week, CNN published an analysis by Stephen Collinson about why Trump “needs the world to believe his adamant claims that Iran’s nuclear program has been obliterated.”
“First, his entire presidency is set up to reflect glory on his own strongman persona, fueling a narrative of courageous, unique and infallible leadership. Information that contradicts the myth is not welcome,” he writes.
“Second, any evidence that Iran retains the capability to manufacture nuclear weapons or to restart its program after daring US bombing raids would raise an uncomfortable question: Should the United States use military action again to try to finish the job and meet any future advances in Iran’s capabilities with more strikes? This would potentially open a yearslong period of quasi-war with Iran for which Trump has no appetite; raise the risks of a wider conflict; and anger his MAGA base.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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