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By Mark Stone, US correspondent

Behind the chest-thumping from Donald Trump, and the bewilderment beyond at his statecraft-by-social-media, doubts have now reached fever pitch about the success of the American bombing of Iran's nuclear sites.

Leaks from the US Defence Department suggest the bunker busting bombs dropped on Iran's three nuclear enrichment sites might only have set the country's nuclear capabilities back by months.

"We were assuming that the damage was going to be much more significant than this assessment is finding," said one of three sources, speaking to NBC News.

Donald Trump has been praising US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities - but intelligence suggests the destruction may not have been emphatic as he claims. 

In fact, the attacks may have just set the programme back by months, rather than eliminated it entirely - see our post at 21.16.

As a reminder, this map shows the key nuclear locations - and we'll be going through each one.

For context, we use the term nuclear proliferation a lot below, so here's the definition:

The spread of nuclear weapons, and, more generally, the spread of nuclear technology and knowledge that might be put to military use. Nuclear proliferation is controlled by the Nuclear Non鈥恜roliferation Treaty, which recognises five nuclear states: the US, the UK, Russia, China and France. 

Natanz

One of Iran's principal uranium enrichment complexes lies on a plain adjacent to mountains outside the Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom, south of Tehran.

Natanz houses facilities including two enrichment plants: the vast, underground Fuel Enrichment Plant and the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant.

It was revealed in 2002 that Iran was secretly building the facility, which is said to be three floors underground. 

Fordow

Another enrichment site can be found at Fordow - one that is extremely well protected, given that it's thought to be dug into the side of a mountain.

Isfahan

Iran's second-biggest city is home to a large nuclear technology centre, which includes a Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant and a uranium conversion facility. 

There is equipment at Isfahan to make uranium metal, a process that is particularly proliferation-sensitive since it can be used to create the core of a nuclear bomb.

Khondab

In Khondab lies a partially built heavy-water research reactor.

These pose a nuclear proliferation risk because they can produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.

Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to bring the reactor online in 2026, with a previous 2015 deal seeing the reactor's core removed and filled with concrete to make it unusable.

Tehran

Iran's nuclear research facilities in its capital Tehran include a research reactor.

Bushehr 

Iran's only operating nuclear power plant lies in the Bushehr area on the Gulf coast.

The facility uses Russian fuel that Moscow then takes back when it is spent, therefore reducing the proliferation risk.

As Washington wrangles over the true extent of damage US strikes caused at Iranian nuclear sites, new satellite images show their aftermath.

These pictures show the scene at the three sites targeted by the US over the weekend.

Isfahan

Fordow

Natanz

The US intel suggesting damage at Iranian nuclear sites was not what Donald Trump has claimed to be (see our 21.16 post) is likely to remain a talking point in Washington and beyond.

Our US partner network NBC News has found that initial report has been seen by some senators at a secure location, and it has been transmitted to Congress.

Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, has reviewed the document.

But he would not discuss the contents because of its classified nature.

"I've reviewed the classified material," he said.

"I'm a little bit disappointed that my colleagues went and looked at it and mainly started talking about it publicly.

"That's not we're supposed to do with a classified report."

In this episode, Richard and Yalda react to Donald Trump's F-bomb earlier today.

As the shaky Israel-Iran ceasefire came into effect, he told reporters the two countries "don't know what the f*** they're doing".

Yalda gives Richard her inside scoop on the call Trump had with Benjamin Netanyahu to stop him from bombing Iran.

They also ask each other what could come next - and look at what regime change would entail in Iran.

This episode contains language some may find offensive.

To get in touch or to share questions, email theworld@AG百家乐在线官网.uk 

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards has denied earlier reports of a drone attack in the northwestern city of Tabriz.

Iranian media had said air defences were activated in the area, amid a fragile ceasefire with Israel.

As we reported earlier, Israel's military said it has detected a drone heading towards its airspace (see 21.30).

We've got a little more to bring you now on the report suggesting US strikes did not destroy Iranian nuclear sites (see our 21.16 post).

Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has responded to the claims, which are based on initial US intel assessments and contradict Donald Trump's claims.

Here's what he said:

Based on everything we have seen - and I've seen it all - our bombing campaign obliterated Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons.

Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target - and worked perfectly.

The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission.

Sir Keir Starmer has been joined by his French and German counterparts in calling for Iran to "come to the negotiating table".

Now is the "time for diplomacy", Starmer's office said in a statement.

The UK prime minister met with Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz at the NATO summit in The Hague earlier today.

"The leaders reflected on the volatile situation in the Middle East," the statement added.

"Now was the time for diplomacy and for Iran to come to the negotiating table, they agreed."

Iran has argued they were at the negotiating table with the US, before Israel's attacks began.

Reports are coming out of both Israel and Iran, suggesting drones have been detected either heading to or in each country's airspace.

Two Iranian news sites said air defences were activated over the northern city of Tabriz - though there was no official confirmation from authorities.

ISNA news agency then reported attack drones have been shot down in the city of Rasht, also in the north, citing the deputy provincial governor.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has said it has intercepted two drones that were making their way to the country "most likely from Iran".

Israel's Kan Radio has reported the drones were likely launched in the morning, around the same time as a missile attack, they said.

Neither incident has been verified - we will bring you more as we get it.

While Donald Trump has been claiming US strikes "totally destroyed" sites in Iran over the weekend, a new report suggests this may not be the case.

According to our US partner network NBC News, which cites three sources with knowledge of the matter, a preliminary US assessment has found the attacks have set back Tehran's program by only a matter of months.

Assessing the damage at the Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites is expected to be a difficult task, and the Defence Intelligence Agency - which compiled this report - is not the only agency tasked with the job.

"We were assuming that the damage was going to be much more significant than this assessment is finding," one of the three sources said.

"This assessment is already finding that these core pieces are still intact. That's a bad sign for the overall program."

One source, cited by Reuters, said the assessment was not universally accepted and there is significant disagreement.

But the initial assessment indicates the attacks may not have been nearly as successful as Trump has claimed.

One of the sources said Iran's enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated.

In fact, that source said the country's nuclear program may have been set back only a month or two.

White House denial

The Pentagon disputed the notion that the damage was minor, but it does not dispute the DIA assessment exists.

The White House's press secretary Karoline Leavitt has denied the report, which has also been run by CNN.

"This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong," she said, adding it was "leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community".

Our own science and technology editor Tom Clarke has broken down how much damage can be seen at the sites...