Dhaka, June 25 -- Israel's military campaign against Iran has included the targeted killing of at least 14 of the country's top nuclear scientists, a blow that Israeli officials say could set Tehran's nuclear ambitions back by years - though experts caution it is unlikely to stop Iran's program entirely.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, claimed that the elimination of these key figures makes it "almost impossible" for Iran to build a nuclear weapon with whatever infrastructure and materials survived the waves of Israeli airstrikes and U.S. bunker-buster bombings over the past two weeks.

"The disappearance of the entire group essentially pushes the program back by several years - quite a numb...