Disentangling the Five Key Questions on Iran’s Nuclear Program
Critical Questions by Mark F. Cancian and Chris H. Park
Published July 2, 2025
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It’s an issue that won’t go away. Despite the U.S. raids on Iranian nuclear facilities being two weeks in the past, the controversy over their effect continues to be publicly debated. A leaked preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency assessment indicated that Iran’s nuclear program was set back by only several months, while President Trump claimed the facilities have been “obliterated.”
Much of this confusion arises from commentators answering different questions and the answers then being applied to the wrong question. For example, the question of how long it will take to rebuild the Iranian nuclear program is different from the question of how long until Iran could have a nuclear weapon. The discussion below disentangles the five key questions about the status of the Iranian nuclear program.
Q1: Was the U.S. military strike a great technical achievement?
A1: Yes, without question. The strikes were a carefully choreographed and masterfully executed operation: seven B-2 bombers flew 36 hours round-trip and dropped fourteen 30,000-pound bombs with precision against targets at Natanz and Fordow, “half the size of a refrigerator door.” At the same time, an Ohio-class submarine launched two dozen Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles against the Isfahan site.
https://www.csis.org/analysis/disentangling-five-key-questions-irans-nuclear-program
