Although the operation achieved an impressive level of tactical success, with a swarm of warplanes penetrating Iran unchallenged following a long, undetected flight from Missouri, it will be far harder than the president has suggested to reliably evaluate the damage inflicted on Iran’s ability to manufacture a nuclear weapon.

Iran launched a missile attack on Al Udeid Air Base — the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East, which President Donald Trump visited just last month — after the U.S. carried out a series of bombings against three nuclear sites in Iran over the weekend.