United States: One of the three uranium enrichment strongholds in Iran, pounded by the US military last month, lies in ruin—its functionality erased, its operations paralyzed. However, the remaining two endured the fury with far less attrition, according to a classified US intelligence distillation. Sources within and formerly part of the US intelligence and defense matrix whispered this to NBC News.
Though this internal post-strike evaluation is only a fragment of the Trump administration’s broader surveillance of Iran’s atomic trajectory, it has been discreetly conveyed to select lawmakers, Pentagon insiders, and allied emissaries in recent days.
Untriggered Fury: A Wider Strike Averted
Sources familiar with the Pentagon’s deeper strategy disclosed that US Central Command had drafted an extended strike blueprint—one that would have disfigured three additional Iranian sites and unfurled over multiple weeks, rather than vanishing in a singular nocturnal blaze.
President Donald Trump was presented with this expansive playbook but set it aside. The strategy conflicted with his core doctrine—avoid entrenchment abroad, preserve American blood, and favor swiftness over quagmire. “We could’ve gone all the way. But he chose restraint,” one individual close to the planning murmured, according to NBC News.
Post-strike, Trump publicly labeled the mission a “phenomenal tactical triumph,” asserting Iran’s atomic centers had been “completely and utterly annihilated.”
Beneath Appearances: The Quiet Continuance
However, intelligence whispers paint a layered reality. If current damage readings are accurate, Washington may again find itself locked in a showdown with Tehran.
Discussions now circulate in both American and Israeli command echelons—contemplating further decimations should Iran drag its heels on returning to nuclear negotiations or show signs of rebuilding covert operations.
Iran has long proclaimed its nuclear endeavor to be peaceful, a mantra repeatedly echoed by its leadership.
Threads of Fallout: What Was Struck and What Survived
The Pentagon’s triad of targets included the Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan installations. Fordo, long perceived as the dark nucleus of Iran’s enrichment aspiration, appears to have suffered grievous damage, delaying Iranian capabilities there by an estimated two years.
Public statements have largely emphasized Fordo’s demise. In contrast, Natanz and Isfahan—despite being struck—harbored subterranean veins immune even to America’s formidable GBU-57 bunker busters. Some uranium deposits and infrastructure were simply out of reach, burrowed too deep beneath Iran’s arid skin.
While Tomahawk salvos targeted surface installations at Isfahan, it was Natanz that felt the tremor of GBU-57s. Reports dating back to 2023 already suggested Tehran had begun boring tunnels too deep for American ordnance.
Clarity in the Shadows: Agency Insights Emerge
Behind closed doors, CIA Director John Ratcliffe conveyed to legislators that multiple key nuclear apparatuses had been “decimated beyond revival.” The sole metal conversion unit at Natanz, he shared, was now so ravaged that reconstruction would take “years.”
Isfahan and Fordo’s stored enriched uranium, he added, was likely entombed under metric tons of collapsed facility—impractical, if not impossible, to recover.
Israel, while slightly more skeptical, acknowledged that uranium buried beneath Isfahan may be physically intact but is practically unreachable—any attempt to exhume it would trigger immediate Israeli response, as per NBC News.
Perception vs Precision: What Victory Looks Like
Even if Tehran’s nuclear heart wasn’t fully extinguished, Trump’s supporters and military aides see the mission as reshaping Iran’s strategic calculus. The regime now recognizes the authenticity of America’s willingness to strike, unflinchingly and again if needed.
President Trump himself didn’t mince words: if Iran edges too close to resuming threatening enrichment levels, “Sure. Without question. Absolutely,” he affirmed when asked about future bombing campaigns.
The White House further claimed Iran’s aerial defenses now lie in tatters, leaving the path open for future air offensives.
The Unused Arsenal: An All-Out Campaign that Wasn’t
During the tail end of the Biden administration and into the following spring, Gen. Erik Kurilla of US Central Command reportedly developed a scheme for an extended air blitz. This “all-in” strike package would have zeroed in on six nuclear sites—multiple times—and crippled Iranian air and missile defenses entirely.
Such a campaign, planners projected, would leave trails of casualties and likely provoke fierce retaliation on American assets scattered across the Middle East.
“It wouldn’t be a one-night raid. It would be a prolonged thunderstorm,” said one person familiar with the strategic blueprint.
Although some in Trump’s inner orbit favored this broader blow, the Commander-in-Chief declined the gambit, unwilling to open another long-drawn warfront.
Roots of the Conflict: The Pulled Thread
Back in 2018, President Trump tore the United States out of the 2015 nuclear accord forged under President Obama—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. That pact curbed Iran’s enrichment capacity in return for loosening sanctions. But with Trump’s withdrawal and renewed economic pressure, Iran shed those restrictions and rapidly advanced its program.
By June, intelligence estimated that Tehran had stockpiled enough fissile matter for up to ten nuclear weapons, according to NBC News.
Despite repeated diplomatic overtures, indirect dialogues between the Trump administration and Iran bore no new accord before Israeli jets screamed across Iranian skies.
Final Word: A Tense Stillness Before the Storm
Whether Iran’s atomic apparatus remains comatose or quietly convalescing, the shadow of Operation Midnight Hammer looms large. For now, Tehran is nursing its wounds under international watch, yet the silence is taut—not of peace, but of pause.
And should the embers begin to glow again beneath the sands, Trump’s message is clear: the hammer can fall again, heavier than before.
I hadn’t thought of it that way.