You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
President Trump’s claimed Iran’s capabilities were “obliterated.” The full extent of the damage is still emerging.
June 26, 2025, 5:31 p.m. ET
This weekend, President Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear capabilities were “completely and totally obliterated” by U.S. airstrikes. The full extent of the damage, which is being assessed by U.S. spy agencies, is still unclear.
Several disclosures and claims by U.S. and United Nations officials, along with satellite images taken after the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, have shed some light on the situation in Iran:
A leaked U.S. intelligence report said the attacks set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months — a finding disputed by Mr. Trump.
The C.I.A. director, John Ratcliffe, said on Wednesday the strikes had “severely damaged” Iran’s nuclear program.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Thursday that centrifuges at the deeply buried Fordo uranium enrichment plant are “no longer operational,” but that it would be “too much” to assert that Iran’s nuclear program had been “wiped out.”
Here’s what we know so far about the state of Iran’s nuclear program after the Israeli and U.S. attacks:
Fordo nuclear site
Deep inside a mountain,
Fordo is said to contain close
to 3,000 sophisticated centrifuges
in two enrichment halls.
IRAN
Security perimeter
Fordo nuclear site
IRAN
Deep inside a mountain,
Fordo is said to contain close
to 3,000 sophisticated centrifuges
in two enrichment halls.
Security perimeter
Fordo nuclear site
Deep inside a mountain,
Fordo is said to contain close
to 3,000 sophisticated centrifuges
in two enrichment halls.
IRAN
Security perimeter
The Fordo site contained thousands of Iran’s most advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium, which could be used in a nuclear weapon. In 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, reported that it had discovered uranium that had been enriched to 83.7 percent purity at Fordo — just under the 90 percent required for a weapon.
Satellite images taken shortly after the U.S. airstrikes reveal damage and likely entry points for the American bunker-buster bombs. The images show distinct changes in the ground’s appearance and gray dust near the possible strike locations.
After strikes
June 22
Entrance tunnel
filled with dirt
Fordo nuclear site
Entrance tunnels
filled with dirt
Entrance tunnel
filled with dirt
Debris
Main enrichment hall thought
to be deep underground
Debris
Support building
appears intact
After strikes
June 22
Entrance tunnel
filled with dirt
Fordo nuclear site
Entrance tunnels
filled with dirt
Entrance tunnel
filled with dirt
Debris
Main enrichment hall thought
to be deep underground
Debris
Support building
appears intact
After strikes
June 22
Entrance tunnel
filled with dirt
Fordo nuclear site
Entrance tunnels
filled with dirt
Entrance tunnel
filled with dirt
Debris
Main enrichment hall thought
to be deep underground
Debris
Support building
appears intact
Source: Institute for Science and International Security. Satellite image from June 22 by Maxar Technologies.
By Leanne Abraham
Source: Satellite image from June 23 by Planet Labs
By Ashley Cai