Does the Iranian Nuclear Program Still Exist?

Despite the June strikes, Iran still has other enrichment facilities—and 902 pounds of possibly missing uranium.

August 25, 2025 Read Online The Morning Dispatch By James P. Sutton, Peter Gattuso, and Ross Anderson Happy Monday! We here at TMD are into fitness and cute animals, and thus, we were delighted to come across the Instagram account, pandsfitness, where Pierson demonstrates how to perform lifts with the correct form, while using his fluffy cat, Hopper, as the demonstration weight. This is what the internet was made for. Quick Hits: Today's Top Stories FBI agents searched the Maryland home and Washington, D.C., office of former national security adviser John Bolton on Friday morning, reportedly as part of an investigation into his potential mishandling of classified documents. Bolton was not charged or detained during the operation. President Donald Trump—who revoked Bolton's security clearance and Secret Service protection days into his second term—told reporters he had no prior knowledge of the searches but described Bolton, who has been a sharp critic of Trump in recent years, as "a real sort of a low life" and "not a smart guy." It's unclear what specific documents prompted the search warrant, though NBC News reported the intelligence that served as the basis for the search warrant came from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and he shared it with FBI Director Kash Patel. "NO ONE is above the law," Patel tweeted on the morning of the raid. "FBI agents on mission." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Friday that Canada would eliminate retaliatory tariffs on American goods that comply with the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), effectively restoring free trade for the majority of products traded between the two nations. Both countries will maintain their tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, and other strategic sectors, but tariff negotiations are ongoing. Carney, speaking on Friday, said that while Canada's trading status with the U.S. is "different from what we had before," it's "still better than that of any other country," and claimed that Canadian goods face an average U.S. tariff rate of just 5.6 percent. Trump told reporters Friday that he and Carney "had a very good call," and that "we want to be very good to Canada." In a Friday Truth Social post, Trump announced that the federal government would take a 10 percent stake in Intel, the tech company and computer-chip maker, as a conversion of $11.1 billion in previously granted funds and pledges. The government received the 433.3 million non-voting shares at $20.47 each, representing a significant discount on their Friday closing price of $24.80. The government will not hold a board seat or participate in any official decision-making positions within the company. An unnamed White House official told the New York Times that the American economy's reliance on semiconductor chip production warranted the federal government's direct involvement in a private company. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted in a speech on Friday that the central bank could cut interest rates at its policy meeting next month, citing a cooling economy and labor market. Powell cautioned that, while "upside risks to inflation had diminished," gross domestic product (GDP) growth "has slowed notably" in the first half of 2025, and tariffs have "begun to push up prices" for certain goods. Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to lower interest rates, which the bank last did in December 2024. Powell said any decision will be made solely on the "assessment of the data and its implications for the economic outlook and the balance of risks," adding that "we will never deviate from that approach." The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hit Yemen's capital city, Sanaa, with airstrikes on Sunday, targeting the Houthis in retaliation for a cluster bomb attack that the Iranian-backed terror group fired into central Israel on Friday. According to the IDF, Israel's strike targeted a military complex near Yemen's presidential palace, a fuel depot, and two power stations. The Friday Houthi attack caused no injuries or fatalities, but the IDF is investigating how defense systems failed to intercept the cluster bomb, stating that its air defenses "are capable of dealing with and intercepting such missiles." The Justice Department released transcripts on Friday of interviews Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche conducted last month with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted child sex trafficker and accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell told Blanche she never witnessed any inappropriate behavior from Trump and that he had no involvement with Epstein's crimes, calling him "a gentleman in all respects." She said she did not believe former President Bill Clinton engaged in illegal behavior either, and that neither president visited Epstein's private islands. Maxwell also denied the existence of Epstein's alleged "client list." At the beginning of the month, when asked about pardoning Maxwell, Trump denied having any knowledge of her case and said, "I'm allowed to do it, but nobody's asked me to do it." Federal immigration officials plan to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia—the El Salvadoran national mistakenly deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador's maximum security prison—to Uganda, his defense attorneys stated in court filings on Saturday. They wrote that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers informed them of plans to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he rejected a plea deal for federal human smuggling charges, in which—after serving his sentence for those charges in U.S. detention—he would be deported to Costa Rica, where he would be free from further detention. Abrego Garcia's lawyers claimed that the government gave him until Monday morning to accept the plea deal, after which "that offer will be off the table forever." When Abrego Garcia returned to the U.S. in June, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced fresh federal charges against him. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty in June, and requested that the case be dismissed. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the Pentagon has restricted Ukraine's ability to fire U.S.-supplied long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems to strike targets within Russian territory, reversing a November 2024 action from former President Joe Biden. Citing unnamed officials, the Journal reported that Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, implemented a "review mechanism" for requests from Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied missiles—or other strikes relying on U.S. intelligence—for attacks inside Russia. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly has the "final say" over that authorization. Meanwhile, Russia hit Ukraine with another large-scale overnight attack late on Thursday, launching 574 drones and 40 missiles, per Ukraine's air force. At least one civilian was killed and three others injured in the western Ukrainian city, Lviv, which, because of the city's proximity to the Polish border, prompted North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces to scramble fighter jets. Can Iran Still Build an Atomic Bomb? Waving Iran flag above skyline of Tehran at sunset. (Photo via Getty Images) According to President Donald Trump, the United States' June strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and military installations were devastating. Over the course of the 12-day war, in which Israeli forces targeted Iran directly, top Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated by drones, Iranian air defenses were systematically knocked out, and uranium enrichment sites at Fordo and Natanz—built underground and beneath dozens of meters of concrete—were buried underneath craters left by U.S. MOPS (mass ordnance penetrators—a.k.a. really big bombs). In his "Address to the Nation," on June 21, Trump said that "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." According to the White House, Operation Midnight Hammer was a complete success and, seemingly, set the Iranian nuclear threat back years, if not indefinitely. But questions quickly emerged over whether the administration was overstating the case. According to a July intelligence report, Iran's deep underground facility at Fordo was badly damaged, but the secondary targets—at Isfahan and Natanz–could be operational again within months, if the Iranians so chose. And if the regime's behavior in recent weeks is any indication, its nuclear ambitions were not buried beneath the rubble with many of its facilities. As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. You can read our full item in the members-only version of TMD. Today's Must-Read La Vie en Commune Thomas Dichter In rural France, near the town of Avallon where I've spent half of my time over the last 20 years, the effort to strike a balance between traditional values and new "ways"—whether it be the shift to large-scale, mechanized farms, the ubiquity of cell phones, the rise of fast food à la américaine—is apparent everywhere. Local mayors, farmers, and ordinary citizens think about, and talk about, the push and pull between the old and the new. If one goes by statistics alone, or forgets for a moment that the French are (by their own admission) inveterate complainers, it is easy to conclude that the struggle to balance the old and the new is not making much headway; that rural France is in decline, suffering from the kind of fracturing of the social order that many say is happening in the United States. Toeing the Company Line Supporting Your Kids Is Not the Same as Coddling Michael Reneau and Hannah Anderson In praise of the parental safety net. For My Enemies: The Law Nick Catoggio The John Bolton case looks corrupt—by design. The Cracker Barrel Crack-Up Jonah Goldberg On surrendering to 'gay race communism.' Bolton Raid: Legitimate Investigation or Political Retribution? Michael Warren Such a raid would normally be a matter of last resort, undertaken only if someone had refused to return classified documents. How Parents Can Bridge the Reading Gulf Ivana Greco Even if schools aren't doing their part. 10 Phrases I Pretended to Understand as a D.C. Intern Maggie McGinnis A cheat sheet to nodding, smiling, and Googling later. On Smoking, and Other Human Vices Ani Chkhikvadze Smoking really isn't that complicated. The New Three Legs of Conservatism | Interview: Matt Lewis Jamie Weinstein Authoritarianism takes over the GOP. Cash and Character | Solo Jonah Goldberg McCarthy's ghost revives through an interesting medium. Sent to: aymentanaze.news@blogger.com You received this email because you signed up for The Dispatch. To stop receiving this type of email, unsubscribe here. Opt out from all emails here. © 2025 The Dispatch, PO Box 33337, Washington, DC 20033, United States