News analysis US air strikes have made it harder to track Iran's nuclear stockpile, say experts

Independent analysis has yet to verify Trump's claim that sites were 'obliterated'

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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's decision to order US forces to attack three key Iranian nuclear installations may have sabotaged the Islamic republic's known atomic capabilities, but it has also created a monumental new challenge to work out what is left and where.

Mr Trump said heavily fortified sites were "totally obliterated" late on June 21, but independent analysis has yet to verify that claim. Rather than yielding a quick win, the strikes have complicated the task of tracking uranium and ensuring Iran does not build a weapon, according to three people who follow the country's nuclear programme.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors remain in Iran and were inspecting more than one site a day before Israel started the bombing campaign on June 13.

They are still trying to assess the extent of damage, and while military action might be able to destroy Iran's declared facilities, it also provides an incentive for Tehran to take its programme underground.

Mr Trump dispatched B-2 stealth jets laden with Massive Ordnance Penetrators, known as GBU-57 bombs, to attempt to destroy Iran's underground uranium-enrichment sites in Natanz and Fordow.

Satellite images taken on June 22 of Fordow and distributed by Maxar Technologies show new craters, possible collapsed tunnel entrances and holes on top of a mountain ridge.

They also show that a large support building on the Fordow site, which operators may use to control ventilation for the underground enrichment halls, remained undamaged. There were no radiation releases from the site, IAEA reported.