Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen assessed that Iran's 60% enriched uranium stockpile remains far from a deployable weapon, even as he hailed the US strike on the Fordow facility as 'the fulfillment of all my dreams,' according to N12 journalist Amit Segal. Cohen reiterated that Mossad operatives walked through the underground nuclear site 'numerous times' to gather intelligence.
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen assessed Tuesday that Iran's stockpile of 60% enriched uranium remains far from a deployable weapon, according to N12 journalist Amit Segal. The assessment builds on remarks Cohen delivered earlier in the day at the Galil Conference, where he described the US strike on the Fordow nuclear facility as 'the fulfillment of all my dreams' and disclosed that Mossad operatives had infiltrated the site 'numerous times.'
At 14:15 and 14:20 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported those initial remarks as carried by Channel 14 journalist Noam Amir, which already included the assessment that the 60% enrichment level was militarily insignificant. The subsequent N12 report by Segal provides additional confirmation of that judgment from a different news outlet, reinforcing Cohen's calibrated tone: celebrating the strategic achievement of the strike while playing down the immediate threat from Iran's enriched uranium.
As The Zioneer reported on June 13, most of Iran's 60% enriched uranium is believed to be buried under collapsed tunnels at the Isfahan site following combined US-Israeli strikes, though the absence of on-site verification has left its precise status uncertain. Cohen's remarks on Tuesday suggest that even the material that remains accessible at Fordow does not constitute a near-term weapon.
What remains an open question is whether Iran retains the ability to rapidly enrich a portion of its stockpile to weapons-grade, and whether international inspectors will gain access to verify the destruction of the entombed Isfahan material. Cohen's deliberate distinction between enrichment capability and weapon capability reflects the nuanced calculus at the heart of ongoing nuclear negotiations.
3 developments
- StrongIsraeli assessment: Iran's enriched uranium entombed in attacked Isfahan tunnels, Fordow ruins
- DevelopingYossi Cohen: Mossad operatives 'walked through' Fordow, US strike 'fulfillment of all my dreams'
- DevelopingAssessment: Most 60%-enriched uranium found in destroyed tunnels at Isfahan nuclear site
- DevelopingUN inspectors: Iran holds near-weapons-grade uranium sufficient for 9-10 bombs, NYT reports
Source and signal
- Open-source intake