Iran’s nuclear program has been pushed back by at least one year, and potentially closer to two, after U.S. airstrikes last month devastated three key nuclear facilities, according to the Department of Defense. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters Wednesday that intelligence assessments show significant damage at Iran’s Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan sites. “We believe, and certainly all of the intelligence that we’ve seen have led us to believe that those facilities especially have been completely obliterated,” Parnell said. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated that assessment, rejecting early leaked estimates suggesting only months of delay. “That was premature,” Hegseth said, pointing to deeper intelligence reviews indicating Tehran’s nuclear timetable had been set back by as much as two years. The June 21 strikes came after more than a week of tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran. President Trump, speaking on Fox News over the weekend, described the strikes as “obliterating like nobody’s ever seen before,” claiming they had put an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions “at least for a period of time.” Trump added he remains open to renewing nuclear negotiations with Tehran, but argued that a formal deal is not essential and warned that more U.S. military action could follow if Iran resumes enrichment. Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi told French broadcaster RFI that while the Iranian nuclear program suffered “enormous damage,” he cautioned that Tehran could restart enrichment “in a matter of months.” Grossi said, “I think ‘annihilated’ is too much, but it has suffered enormous damage.” It remains unclear whether Iran’s existing stockpiles of enriched uranium were destroyed in the U.S. strikes. American intelligence agencies have previously assessed that even with nuclear material, Iran would still need at least two years to assemble a deliverable weapon. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)