五角大楼周三加强了对伊朗核计划的评估，宣布在美国打击其核设施后，伊朗拥有制造核武器的能力“接近两年”。
五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔的评估似乎比国际原子能机构的联合国核查人员要乐观得多。国际原子能机构总干事拉斐尔·格罗斯上周末表示，他认为伊朗可以在几个月内开始浓缩铀。
军方官员和专家表示，毫无疑问，美国对伊朗三个关键核设施的轰炸——福尔多、纳坦兹和伊斯法罕——造成了重大破坏，当时它们被14枚掩体炸弹和24枚战斧导弹击中。
但是他们警告说，一个可靠的情报评估需要时间。核专家质疑一些浓缩铀是否可能事先被转移或储存在其他地方——特朗普政府认为这种可能性不大。
当被问及最新情报可能显示什么时，帕内尔在五角大楼的一次简报会上告诉记者，政府的立场没有改变，即伊朗的核设施已经“完全被清除”“被抹杀”一词最早是由总统使用的唐纳德·特朗普和国防部长皮特·海格塞斯。
“这要推迟一到两年。我认为我们考虑的时间可能接近两年，”帕内尔告诉记者。
他补充说，美国的打击造成了心理上的损失，因为它依赖于能够不间断飞行近37个小时的轰炸机，此外还摧毁了伊朗用于生产浓缩铀的物理场所。
“这不仅仅是...浓缩铀或离心机之类的东西。我们摧毁了他们制造炸弹所需的部件，”他说。
“所以当你考虑到这一系列的事情时，是的，我们相信伊朗的核能力已经严重下降。这甚至是他们制造炸弹的野心，”他补充道。
共和党人表示，他们对政府的评估感到满意，而几位民主党人表示，在国会山听取了罢工的简报后，他们仍持怀疑态度。
Iran's nuclear program knocked back 'closer to 2 years,' Pentagon says
The Pentagon on Wednesday sharpened its assessment of Iran's nuclear program, declaring that Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon following the U.S. strike on its nuclear facilities is "closer to two years" away.
The assessment from Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson, appeared to be significantly more optimistic than by U.N. inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency. IAEA's director general Rafael Grossi said last weekend that he believed Iran could begin enriching uranium in a matter of months.
Military officials and experts have said that there is no doubt the U.S. bombing of three key nuclear sites in Iran -- Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan -- caused signficant damage when they were hit by 14 bunker-buster bombs and two dozen Tomahawk missiles.
But they caution that a firm intelligence assessment will take time to do. And nuclear experts question whether some of the enriched uranium could have been moved in advance or stored elsewhere -- a possibility the Trump administration dismisses as improbable.
When asked what the latest intelligence might show, Parnell told reporters at a Pentagon briefing that the administration's stance is unchanged that Iran's nuclear sites were "completely obliterated." The term "obliterated" was first used by PresidentDonald Trumpand Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the hours after the bombing.
"It's delayed by one to two years. I think we're thinking probably closer to two years," Parnell told reporters.
He added that the U.S. strike took a psychological toll because it relied on bombers that were capable of flying nonstop for nearly 37 hours, in addition to destroying the physical sites Iran was using the produce enriched uranium.
"It's not just ... enriched uranium or centrifuges or things like that. We destroyed the components that they would need to build a bomb," he said.
"And so when you take that constellation of things into consideration, yeah, we believe that Iran's nuclear capability has been severely degraded. It's even their ambition to build a bomb," he added.
Republicans said they were satisfied with the administration's assessment, whereas several Democrats said they remained skeptical after being briefed on the strike on Capitol Hill.
