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It’s been five days since Israel launched a massive operation against Iran with the stated aim of destroying its nuclear program. Though over a dozen Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed and important nuclear sites have been damaged by the operation, a key enrichment site buried deep underground seemingly remains unscathed.

Experts say that Israel’s objective is far from completed and that destroying Iran’s nuclear program would likely require Israel and the United States to get their hands dirtier.

It’s been five days since Israel launched a massive operation against Iran with the stated aim of destroying its nuclear program. Though over a dozen Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed and important nuclear sites have been damaged by the operation, a key enrichment site buried deep underground seemingly remains unscathed.

Experts say that Israel’s objective is far from completed and that destroying Iran’s nuclear program would likely require Israel and the United States to get their hands dirtier.

“It is completely fair and completely reasonable to say the problem has definitely not been fixed at this point, that the risk of breakout is still incredibly strong, either for something crude or something a little bit more refined,” Richard Nephew, a nuclear weapons expert at Columbia University and a former U.S. deputy special envoy for Iran, told Foreign Policy. “As of right this moment, unless something changes, we have had no improvement in our situation vis-à-vis the nuclear program,” Nephew said.

Breakout refers to the amount of time it would take a country to acquire enough fissile material for one nuclear bomb. Prior to Israel launching this operation, Iran’s breakout time was considered to be a matter of days, and that does not appear to have changed as things stand. Iran could still “produce their first weapons-worth within five to six days,” Nephew said.

Tehran maintains that it

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