Iran Admits Nuclear Facilities ‘Badly Damaged’ By US Strikes

Iran yesterday said its nuclear installations were “badly damaged” by US airstrikes, the first such comments by Tehran as debate grows over how much the bombardment managed to dent the Islamic Republic’s atomic programme.

“Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera TV in an interview, quoted by Bloomberg.

Baghaei did not give further details and said authorities were still assessing the situation on the ground. He added that the US attacks were a “detrimental blow” to international law and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which Iran is a signatory.

The comments are the first time an Iranian official has addressed the scope of damage caused by the June 22 strikes which involved US attacks on three nuclear facilities in Iran using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bombs.

The comments came hours after US President Donald Trump disputed a US intelligence report that said the attacks had limited impact on Iran’s nuclear programme below ground.

An assessment from the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency said the bombing likely didn’t cripple the core components stored underground including centrifuges, according to people familiar with its contents.

Commenting on the intelligence leak, Trump said the report was “very inconclusive” but that he still believed the sites were demolished, the Bloomberg report added.

“The intelligence says we don’t know,” he told reporters at a NATO summit in the Hague. “It could have been very severe. That’s what the intelligence says. So I guess that’s correct, but I think we can take that we don’t know. It was very severe. It was obliteration,” he added.

But International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said “very significant damage is expected to have occurred” at Fordow, Iran’s main uranium enrichment site which is built under a mountain. The IAEA has not had access to Iran since Israel started attacking Iran on June 13.

Satellite images showed that US military planners were careful not to hit reactors at the Isfahan research facility which appeared to have been intentionally left untouched, according to four senior officials in Vienna.

The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said the US strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. It said both Israeli and US attacks set back the country’s ability to develop its nuclear weapons by “many years.”

Trump brokered a ceasefire to end the 12-day war between Israel and Iran that appeared to be holding on Wednesday. The president had lashed out at both countries a day earlier, and particularly Israel, over what he said were early violations of the truce. Both nations have said they’ll honour the ceasefire provided their enemy does the same.

Fear of Assassination: Iran’s leader Khamenei chooses three successors, skips son

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly handpicked three potential successors in case he is killed during Israel’s ongoing military campaign — a revelation that signals unprecedented urgency inside Tehran’s highest ranks.

According to an investigative report by The New York Times on Saturday, the 86-year-old Supreme Leader, now operating from a fortified bunker, privately named three senior clerics to assume power should he die during the conflict.

The Times cites “senior Iranian officials” who say Khamenei made the selections after a string of high-level assassinations by Israeli forces.

Significantly, Khamenei’s influential son, Mojtaba, long rumoured to be groomed for succession, was not included in the list.

This marks a dramatic shift from years of speculation that a dynastic handover was being engineered behind the scenes, Jerusalem Post also reports on Saturday.

“Khamenei has nominated three clerics as potential successors while hiding in a bunker… Mojtaba is not among them,” reported The New York Times, citing confidential Iranian sources close to the leadership.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post corroborated the report, noting that the Supreme Leader has also “selected replacements down his military chain of command” in anticipation of further Israeli strikes that could decimate his inner circle.

Under normal conditions, Iran’s Supreme Leader is chosen by the Assembly of Experts — an 88-member clerical body.

But Khamenei’s reported actions suggest he is attempting to shape that outcome in advance, potentially bypassing traditional structures to preserve his ideological legacy and prevent internal fractures.

Analysts say the selection of three clerics, rather than one, reflects both a lack of consensus within Iran’s ruling elite and the urgency of contingency planning as the threat level escalates.

While names have not been officially released, the report indicates the candidates are figures trusted by Khamenei and aligned with the regime’s hardline core.

Implications Beyond Iran
The move has immediate geopolitical consequences. With the region on edge following Israeli strikes on senior Iranian and Hezbollah commanders, the specter of regime instability could further inflame the Middle East.

It also raises questions about the viability of Iran’s leadership structure should Khamenei be incapacitated.

“Khamenei’s action signals a regime that sees the risk of decapitation as real,” said a senior regional intelligence official quoted in The New York Times. “It is succession planning not in theory — but under fire.”
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