By M10News International Desk | © M10News 2025
Donald Trump’s assertion that Iran’s nuclear facilities were “completely obliterated” within hours of recent US strikes is “just not technically credible,” according to military analyst Michael Clarke.
Speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News, Clarke explained that defence agencies typically express only “varying levels of confidence” in their assessments of such operations.
“I imagine that’s what the report would have actually stated,” Clarke said.
He acknowledged that the precision of the US strikes — involving bunker-busting bombs dropped “very close together in the same place” — represented an “undoubtedly significant technological triumph.”
However, Clarke noted that these types of bombs had “never been tested before” in real-world scenarios, making the extent of the damage uncertain.
“Undoubtedly, it would be logical to assume enormous damage was probably caused,” he said. “But damage beyond repair? We don’t know.”
Clarke added that Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, along with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will likely provide a clearer assessment in the coming weeks.
“Mossad will get a good idea of the damage, as will the IAEA, because they have extensive monitoring operations across Iran,” he said.
According to Clarke, reliable intelligence on the full extent of the damage could take “a couple of weeks, maybe three to four weeks” to materialize.
“The idea that we know within hours that everything was completely obliterated is just not technically credible,” he concluded.
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