US intelligence report: The strikes didn’t destroy Iran’s nuclear program
A preliminary secret US intelligence report concluded that US strikes on Iran set back Tehran’s nuclear program by only a few months, and didn’t destroy it as President Donald Trump claimed.
US media reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the Defense Intelligence Agency report, that the strikes carried out on Sunday did not completely destroy the centrifuges or the stockpile of enriched uranium.
According to the report, the strikes closed the entrances to some facilities without destroying underground buildings.
But White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt stressed that this assessment was completely false and was classified top secret, yet it was leaked.
“Leaking this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to undermine President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who flawlessly executed a mission to destroy Iran’s nuclear program,” Levitt wrote in a post on X.
“Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: complete destruction,” she continued.
Two B-52 bombers struck two Iranian nuclear sites with GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs on Sunday, while a submarine struck a third site with Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Trump described the US attacks as a “remarkable military success,” asserting that they “totally and completely destroyed” three nuclear facilities in Iran.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that US forces “destroyed Iran’s nuclear program”.
However, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, was more cautious, saying, “Initial assessments indicate that all three sites have sustained severe damage and destruction”.
For its part, the Iranian government announced on Tuesday that it had “taken the necessary measures” to ensure the continuation of its nuclear program.
“Plans to restart the facilities were prepared in advance, and our strategy is to ensure uninterrupted production and services,” said Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, in remarks broadcast on state television.
An advisor to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that his country still maintains its stockpile of enriched uranium despite US attacks, and that the game isn’t over.
On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented airstrike campaign against Iran, targeting nuclear sites, scientists, and senior military leaders in an attempt to disrupt Iran’s nuclear efforts.
For weeks, Trump has been opening the door to diplomatic efforts to find an alternative to the agreement he withdrew from in 2018, which stipulated the lifting of sanctions in exchange for curbing Iran’s nuclear program.
But the US president ultimately decided to intervene militarily.
General Caine said that the US military operation involved 125 aircraft, including stealth bombers, fighters, aerial refueling aircraft, a guided missile submarine, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft.
