Israel’s unprecedented attacks on Iran had at their core an elusive and high-risk goal: eradicating the country’s controversial nuclear program.

Iran has launched retaliatory missile strikes on Israel, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, after a series of blistering Israeli attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear program and its armed forces.

Israel badly damaged one of Iran’s key nuclear sites and killed a startling array of top military and nuclear officials in the attacks that started on Friday morning. But when the sun rose after that devastating assault, it was also clear how much of Iran’s nuclear program remained, at least for now.