UN Nuclear Watchdog Head Says Centrifuges At Site Bombed By U.S. 'No Longer Operational'

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said on Thursday that centrifuges at Fordow are "no longer operative" after the U.S. bombed it over the weekend.

Speaking to French radio, Rafael Grossi said evaluating the damage sustained by the facility using satellite imagery alone is difficult, but due to the power of the bombs and the plant's technical characteristics, "we already know that these centrifuges are no longer operational."

Grossi went on to say that centrifuges require a high degree of precision and are vulnerable to intense vibrations. "There was no escaping significant physical damage," Grossi added. "So we can come to a fairly accurate technical conclusion."

There has been intense speculation about the extent of the damage sustained by Fordow, one of Israel's main goal in its war with Iran and buried deep under a mountain, especially after an early Pentagon assessment reportedly claimed it had not been significant.

Israeli officials, in turn, do believe the attackshave caused significant damage to the sites. According to Axios, Israeli officials are "perplexed" by the leaked intelligence report. Even though the country has not produced a final report on the strikes, the initial evaluation is far more optimistic, with an official telling the outlet that there are "no indications the bunker-buster bombs didn't work." "Nobody here is disappointed," the official added.

The view is much more closer to President Donald Trump's, who has claimed Iran's nuclear facilities have been "obliterated." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also slammed the report on Tuesday, saying that the assessment is "flat-out wrong and was classified as 'top secret' but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also downplayedthe assessment. "The 30,000 pounds of explosives and capability of those munitions — it was devastation underneath Fordow. And the amount of munitions, six per location — any assessment that tells you it was something otherwise is speculating with other motives," Hegseth said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also pushed back against the report in an interview with Politico Wednesday morning, insisting that Iran suffered "significant, very significant, substantial damage" to multiple components of their work.