Steve Witkoff Says It’s ‘Almost Impossible’ For Iran ‘To Resurrect’ Nuclear Weapons Program

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said Tuesday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that it would be “almost impossible” for Iran to “resurrect” its nuclear weapons programs at the sites the U.S. hit Saturday.

Following the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear weapons program sites in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, legacy media outlets reported that the hits did not destroy the core components of the program and likely only set it back months. While asking Witkoff about the early reports, Fox’s Laura Ingraham pressed the envoy for his assessment of the attack.

“So your conclusion tonight, seeing what you’ve seen, is that Iran could not resume its nuclear enrichment program within a matter of months?” Ingraham asked.

“It’s not even conceivable,” Witkoff responded. “The conversion, destroying of the conversion facility, which not a lot of people are aware of, that stops the enrichment process in the beginning, and it’s needed to finish the enrichment process. Once you get to 90%, you now must metallicize the material, shape it into a round ball, a round metallic ball. That round metallic ball goes into the bomb. Without conversion, you can’t begin enrichment, and you can’t end enrichment in a successful weaponization. That was taken out.”

President Donald Trump announced Saturday on Truth Social that the U.S. strike against the three Iranian nuclear weapons sites had been “very successful,” adding the targets received a “full payload of BOMBS.” According to Witkoff, the above-ground facilities in Natanz were “completely destroyed” by the U.S.’ bunker buster bombs, with Isfahan’s below-ground facility being “eviscerated” before adding he had “no doubt” that Fordow’s site was also “obliterated.” (RELATED: Joy Reid Suggests Iran Having Nuclear Weapon Might Make Middle East ‘Calmer’)

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“Then on top of that, the nuclear reactors, again, as I said, two at Natanz, one in Fordow, all three of those had most, if not all, of the centrifuges damaged or destroyed in a way that it will be almost impossible for them to resurrect that program for, in my view and in many other experts’ views who have seen the raw data,” Witkoff added.

On Tuesday, however, legacy media outlets such as Reuters, The New York Times and CNN reported that sources familiar with the findings claimed the strikes had only caused minimal damage, allowing Iran to build a nuclear bomb in roughly three months if they decided to rush their program.

When asked about the leaks from the Trump administration, Witkoff told Ingraham there should be an investigation into who is responsible, calling the action “treasonous.”

“It goes without saying that leaking that type of information, whatever the information, whatever side it comes out on, is outrageous. It’s treasonous, so it ought to be investigated, and whoever did it, whoever is responsible for it, should be held accountable,” Witkoff said.

“It could hurt lives in the future. This leaking is a completely unacceptable thing, but let me give you, because I’ve read all the damage assessment reports from not just our government, but from other governments,” Witkoff said. “So the reporting out there that in some ways suggests that we did not achieve the objective is just completely preposterous.”

Just two days after the U.S. strike, Iran retaliated by attacking the Al Udeid U.S. Air Base in Qatar Monday. Trump revealed in a series of posts on Truth Social that Iran had warned him about the hit beforehand, confirming there were no U.S. casualties and only minimal damage to the base.

By Monday evening, the president also announced that a ceasefire had been reached between Iran and Israel, calling for both countries to be peaceful and respectful once it began.

On Tuesday, Iran reportedly broke the ceasefire by firing a missile, prompting Israel to strike back. While speaking to reporters at the White House in response, Trump said the two countries “don’t know what the fuck they are doing” after “fighting so long and so hard.”

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