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Pentagon Again Shifts Assessment of Damage to Iran’s Nuclear Program

The appraisal that Iran’s nuclear hopes had been set back 1 to 2 years by U.S. and Israeli bombings was the latest in a shifting series of pronouncements.

© Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

A billboard showing a variety of missiles in Tehran last year. The Pentagon’s chief spokesman said on Thursday that Iran’s nuclear program had likely been degraded by one to two years by U.S. and Israeli bombing.

Hegseth and Caine Delve Into Details but Not Results of Iranian Strikes

Neither man gave new assessments of the state of Iran’s nuclear program or the damage to its sites.

© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday with Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Strike Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by Only a Few Months, U.S. Report Says

Preliminary classified findings indicate that the attack sealed off the entrances to two facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings.

© Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Reporters photographing a display for “Midnight Hammer,” the name of the American operation to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites, during a news conference on Sunday.

Pentagon Details Multipronged Attack on Iranian Nuclear Sites

B-2 stealth bombers, fighter aircraft and submarine-launched cruise missiles struck Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan during “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to reporters at the Pentagon on Sunday.
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