Trump envoy sounds alarm on Iran nukes eight months after bombing

Nearly eight months after U.S. B-2 bombers struck Iran’s key nuclear facilities on June 22, the debate over how severely the attacks damaged Tehran’s nuclear ambitions remains unresolved — and the threat has not disappeared.

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff issued a stark warning that Iran is approximately one week away from accumulating enough enriched uranium to build at least one nuclear bomb.

While Tehran has not enriched uranium to the 90% weapons-grade threshold, Witkoff said it has stockpiled substantial quantities enriched to 60%.

He called the situation “really dangerous” and questioned why Iranian leaders have not come to the negotiating table given the significant U.S. military presence in the region. President Trump has directed Witkoff to consult a range of perspectives, including conversations with Reza Pahlevi, son of the late exiled shah of Iran.

The Trump administration has maintained that the June strikes on the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan facilities were a historic success, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe telling lawmakers that credible intelligence confirms Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged and that key facilities would require years to rebuild. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the operation as “historically successful.” Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission went further, assessing the combined U.S. and Israeli strikes set Iran’s nuclear weapons development back “by many years.”

However, that optimistic view has been challenged from multiple directions.

An initial Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, leaked shortly after the mission, expressed “low confidence” that the strikes were as devastating as the White House claimed.

The Washington Post subsequently reported that intercepted communications between Iranian officials suggested the damage was less severe than Tehran had braced for — a report the White House dismissed.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi offered a measured middle ground, acknowledging “important” damage to Iran’s enrichment capabilities while noting some infrastructure remains standing and, critically, that Iran retains the institutional knowledge and technological sophistication to reconstitute its program.

“You can’t ’disinvent’ this,” Grossi said.