An Israel Atomic Energy Commission report on Wednesday concluded that the U.S. military’s airstrikes on Iran’s Fordow enrichment plant destroyed critical infrastructure, rendering the facility “inoperable.”
The IAEC assessment noted that the American assault, “combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran’s military nuclear program,” set back Tehran’s abilities to develop nuclear weapons “by many years.”
“The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material,” continued the report, the conclusions of which were published by the Prime Minister’s Office shortly after the White House shared them with reporters in Washington on Wednesday morning.
Speaking at the NATO summit in The Hague earlier on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump told journalists that the strikes he ordered led to the “total obliteration” of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear capabilities.
He warned that if Tehran attempted to rebuild, Washington would strike again, but insisted “we’re not going to have to worry about that. It’s gone for years. Very tough to rebuild because the whole thing has collapsed.”
Israel, he added, “is doing a report on it now, I understand. And I was told that they said it was total obliteration. You know, they have guys that go in there after the hit, and they say it was total obliteration.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the weekly government meeting in Jerusalem on Wednesday, declared “a great victory in the campaign against the enemy that came to destroy us.”
“Through this victory, we have removed two immediate existential threats to ensure the eternity of Israel,” Netanyahu continued, in reference to the nuclear and ballistic missile threat from Tehran.
“I want to once again commend the ministers of the government,” he stated, saying, “it is no small thing that the State of Israel managed to maintain operational stability during deadly missile barrages.”
Trump announced on Monday that Jerusalem and Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, ending 12 days of fighting between the two warring nations.
Iran launched over 500 ballistic missiles at Israel over the course of the war, killing 28, wounding hundreds and damaging countless buildings.
Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Ohad Tal praised Jerusalem’s recent military operations during an interview with JNS on Wednesday, calling them a demonstration of Israeli strength on the global stage.
“Over the past two weeks, Israel has shown its strength to the entire world,” Tal said. “We have done things that no other nation would even dare think about. The accomplishments are many—and were achieved quicker than expected.”
Tal noted that the operations had significantly set back Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities.
“Firstly, we dealt a devastating blow to Iran’s nuclear program—to the point that they will have to start everything from scratch,” he said. “We destroyed the entire ballistic missile project, which also posed a threat to Europe and the United States. We hit IRGC assets and personnel, bombed regime targets, and took out Iran’s top military leaders and scientists.”
He credited the success of the campaign to close cooperation between Israel and the United States, and also emphasized the limited impact on Israeli forces and infrastructure during the campaign.
“Incredibly, and thank God, not a single Israeli soldier was harmed during these operations,” he said. “And the civilian casualties and damages suffered in Israel—while painful—were not as high as anticipated.”
Looking ahead, Tal stressed the importance of maintaining vigilance to prevent Iran from reconstituting its military capabilities.
“We will have to continue monitoring the situation on the ground and remove any threat that arises, together with our allies,” he said. “Only that way can we ensure long-term peace and stability for Israel and the region.
“The Ayatollahs are currently weaker than ever,” he added. “In my view, that means there’s an unprecedented opportunity to take down the regime and remove this cancer from the Middle East, once and for all.”