Smotrich notes that the attacks on Iran's nuclear weapons “set them back many years.”
Israeli Finance Minister and far-right party leader Bezalel Smotrich has denied CNN reports that US strikes on Iranian sites have failed to destroy key components of its nuclear program.
He stated this on Israeli radio, CNN reports.
“Nobody knows what exactly was damaged, and it will take some time,” the minister stressed.
Smotrich says Israel and the US's actions against Iran's nuclear programme “set them back many years” because “their scientists, their archives, their capabilities” were destroyed.
Jerusalem is assessing the extent of the damage caused since the attacks began on June 13, Smotrich said.
“Our goal must be to overthrow this regime. We must help the Iranian people to overthrow it,” he added.
CNN's update on US strikes
The American television and radio company CNN, citing informed sources in the Pentagon intelligence agency, stated that the US strikes on Iran did not destroy key components of its nuclear program. In particular, two sources of the publication reported that stockpiles of Iranian enriched uranium were damaged.
US President Donald Trump also reacted angrily to the CNN report. He called the attacks “one of the most successful military strikes in history.” In addition, the head of the White House criticized CNN and The New York Times for their attempts to disparage the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
