By World Israel News Staff

American and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities set back the Islamic republic’s nuclear program by a matter of years, not months, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency told Congress recently, according to an American official.

On Sunday, The Associated Press published a report citing an anonymous U.S. official who claimed that CIA Director John Ratcliffe told members of Congress that the agency estimates that the vast majority of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was not removed from nuclear facilities in Fordow and Isfahan prior to the airstrikes during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, contrary to some media reports.

Prior to the war, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations body tasked with regulating nuclear power, estimated that Iran had accumulated 900 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% purity; which if enriched to 90% would provide enough fissile material for 9 to 10 atomic bombs.

However, Ratcliffe reportedly told lawmakers at a closed hearing last week that nearly all of Iran’s enriched uranium was likely buried under rubble following the one-day American air campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer.

In addition, Iran’s nuclear program suffered a critical blow when the United States bombed a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, destroying equipment needed to metallize uranium – a key step in the weaponization process once the uranium has been enriched to 90% purity.

Ratcliffe’s reported comments confirm claims made by experts to The New York Times on Saturday, arguing that the strikes on the Isfahan conversion facility likely destroyed the sensitive equipment needed to metallize uranium hexafluoride, thus blocking Iran’s path to weaponizing enriched uranium.

Last Wednesday, Ratcliffe issued a public statement claiming that his agency “can confirm that….Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged.”

The statement, which bolstered claims by President Donald Trump that Iran’s nuclear program was effectively destroyed in the strikes, gave no details regarding the nature or scope of the damage.