Vance says Iran no longer capable of producing nuclear weapons after US strikes
US Vice President J.D. Vance said that thanks to the operations carried out by the US Armed Forces, Iran has now lost its ability to produce nuclear weapons. This is one of the strongest confirmations that Washington has probably managed to significantly weaken Iran's nuclear program, but this statement raises a number of questions and doubts among experts about the completeness of the goals set. During an interview on the Fox News channel, which is quoted by authoritative publications The Guardian and CNN, Vance said: "Iran was very close to possessing nuclear weapons. Now the situation is such that they are no longer able to do so with the amount of equipment that remains at their disposal, because we have hit them and destroyed them." The details of these statements suggest that Washington is trying to emphasize its role in neutralizing Iran's nuclear program, but the real results of the operation still raise many questions. Sources say Vance declined to give specific answers about the location of Iran's highly enriched uranium. According to him, this information is "not significant," since the main goal was to destroy the enriched uranium itself in order to deprive Iran of the ability to produce nuclear weapons. "Our goal was to bury this uranium, and I am convinced that we did it. The uranium, I believe, is now in the ground," he emphasized. At the same time, according to CNN, there are a number of doubts about the completeness of the destruction of nuclear materials and equipment in Iran after the round-the-clock air strikes. Preliminary assessments show that the United States continues to have difficulty determining whether all of its enriched uranium stocks have been destroyed, or whether some of them remain in the country. According to experts, the destruction of nuclear materials is not only a matter of physically destroying the equipment, but also of controlling the remnants. In summary, Vance expressed confidence that the strikes were successful, including in terms of "burying the uranium." He emphasized that the United States had achieved an important goal in neutralizing Iran's nuclear program, although he acknowledged that much work remains to be done to finally resolve this issue. As for the reaction of the American administration, Donald Trump previously emphasized that the goals of the operation were achieved "completely and unconditionally" and that all major nuclear facilities were "completely destroyed." However, recent assessments and reactions from independent experts cast doubt on whether the United States used its maximum military force against all targets included in the plan. This raises the question of whether the operation was truly completed and whether all stockpiles of material were destroyed. This was preceded by the fact that on June 23, Iran resorted to active actions - launching at least 10 missiles at US military bases in Qatar. In response, US forces reported intercepting most of the missiles, and President Trump called Iran’s response “very weak.” At the same time, he emphasized that the strike was brief and relatively minor on Tehran’s part, which gives reason to doubt Iran’s ability to respond effectively to possible provocations in the future. Thus, the situation surrounding Iranian-American relations remains tense, and assessments of the effectiveness of the latest strikes and the true state of Iran’s nuclear program will remain the subject of discussion and analysis for a long time to come.