Preliminary intelligence assessments provided to European governments indicate that Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact following US strikes on its main nuclear sites, two officials have said.
The people said the intelligence suggested that Iran’s stockpile of 408kg of uranium enriched close to weapons-grade levels was not concentrated in Fordow, one of its two main enrichment sites, at the time of last weekend’s attack.
It had been distributed to various other locations, the assessments found.
The findings call into question US president Donald Trump’s assertion that the bombings had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.
In an apparent reference to Fordow, Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday: “Nothing was taken out of [the] facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!”
The officials said EU governments were still awaiting a full intelligence report on the extent of the damage to Fordow, which was built deep beneath a mountain near the holy city of Qom, and said one initial report suggested “extensive damages, but not full structural destruction”.
Iranian officials have suggested the enriched uranium stockpile was moved before the US bombing of the plant, which came after days of Israeli strikes on the country.
The US used bunker-buster bombs to attack Fordow and Natanz, Iran’s other main uranium enrichment facility, on Sunday. It fired cruise missiles at a third site, Isfahan, which was used in the fuel conversion cycle and for storage.
Mr Trump has dismissed a provisional American intelligence assessment, leaked to US media, that said Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back by only a matter of months by the US bombings.
On Thursday, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth lambasted the media for focusing on the report, which the Defense Intelligence Agency had later stressed was a “preliminary, low-confidence assessment”.
The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said this week that it had assessed that US and Israeli strikes had “set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years”.
But experts have warned that if Tehran has retained its stockpile of enriched uranium and set up advance centrifuges at hidden sites, it could still have the capacity to produce the fissile material required for a weapon.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told French Radio on Thursday that Iran’s nuclear programme had “suffered enormous damage”, though he said claims of its complete destruction were overblown.
Iran insists its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.
The US had not provided definitive intelligence to EU allies on Iran’s remaining nuclear capabilities following the strikes, and was withholding clear guidance on how it plans to conduct future relations with Tehran, said three officials briefed on the discussions.
EU policy towards Tehran was “on hold” pending a new initiative from Washington on seeking a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis, the people said, adding that conversations between Mr Trump and EU leaders this week had failed to provide a clear message.
The Trump administration had been holding indirect negotiations with Tehran before the war in hopes of a deal to curb its nuclear activities.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed victory over Israel and said his country had “delivered a hand slap to America’s face” on Thursday, in his first public comments since a ceasefire was declared in the war between the two countries.
Mr Khamenei spoke in a video broadcast on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19th.
“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” he said, in apparent reference to an Iranian missile attack on an American base in Qatar on Monday, which caused no casualties. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025. Additional reporting: AP
