US Intel: Iran Failed to Move Nuclear Materials Before Strikes

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) revealed on Monday that U.S. intelligence contradicts claims that Iran moved nuclear materials before President Trump’s weekend airstrikes, which the senator believes “severely damaged, if not completely destroyed” Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities.

Satellite imagery taken prior to the attack, circulating across social media over the weekend, revealed trucks surrounding Fordo allegedly poised to haul away all nuclear material, which the senator rejects.

“[Israel and Iran] are claiming that they moved some material,” Mullin said. “Our intelligence report says they didn’t. In fact, we actually believe they stored more of it in Fordo because they believe Fordo was impenetrable,” the Oklahoma Republican said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

The Fordo facility, located 300 feet underneath a mountain, was one of three Iranian nuclear sites targeted by American air strikes on Saturday, along with facilities at Natanz and Isfahan.

“We have the ability to destroy things that people think were undestroyable. And so we think we did a really good job,” Mullin said.

Spencer Faragasso, senior research fellow at the Institute for Science and International Security, echoed Mullin’s sentiment, telling The Washington Post that the satellite images taken prior to the attack appear to feature dump trucks intent on reinforcing Fordo, not evacuating it.

“If they evacuated any equipment, it had to happen prior to the filling of the tunnels,” Faragasso said, pointing out that using dump trucks to transport uranium and centrifuges could easily damage them, and hazardous chemicals could leak. “It would be a large and complicated undertaking.”

Experts told the Post that the tunnel entrances where the trucks were spotted appear to have been filled with dirt post-attack, either as a result of reinforcing the tunnels in preparation for a strike or from the shock wave caused by the bombing.

Senator Mullin, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the strikes had “severely damaged, if not completely destroyed, their ability to have a nuclear weapon,” but suggested the possibility of continued military action if necessary. “If we find that we didn’t completely destroy Fordo’s nuclear production capabilities, we will be working with our allies to finish the job, or we will finish the job.”

“We have made it very clear, President Trump has made clear for 10 years, we will not allow Iran, the world’s sponsor of terror, to have a nuclear weapon any way whatsoever,” Mullin added.

President Trump declared the strikes had “totally destroyed” Iran’s major enrichment facilities and blasted mainstream media outlets that attempted to contradict this assessment. “It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media, and that’s why their Ratings are at an ALL TIME LOW — ZERO CREDIBILITY!” the president posted on Truth Social.