US strikes on Iran didn't destroy nuclear programme, early assessment finds
A preliminary US intelligence assessment has determined that American strikes over the weekend on Iranian nuclear facilities have set back Tehran's programme by only a matter of months, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The initial report was prepared by the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's main intelligence arm and one of 18 US intelligence agencies, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss classified matters.
The classified assessment is at odds with the statements of US President Donald Trump and high-ranking US officials – including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. They have said the weekend strikes, which used a combination of bunker-busting bombs and more conventional weapons, essentially eliminated Iran's nuclear programme.
Trump's administration on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that its weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had 'degraded' Iran's nuclear programme, short of Trump's earlier assertion that the facilities had been 'obliterated'.
Asked for comment, the White House pointed to a statement by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt to CNN, which first reported the assessment, that the 'alleged' conclusion was 'flat-out wrong'.
'Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,' she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Florida building ‘Alligator Alcatraz' as Trump ramps up deportations
Florida has started construction of a temporary migrant detention facility dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' due to its remote location at an airfield in the Everglades, a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons. Footage aired by a local NBC affiliate showed the start of construction on the site, which will feature large tents to house migrants and trailers for staff. The facility will have minimal security due to the natural barriers provided by the surrounding inhospitable marshy grasslands. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has compared it to the former maximum-security prison on Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco. 'We don't need to build a lot of brick and mortar,' Uthmeier said in an interview with conservative media commentator Benny Johnson. 'And thankfully, Mother Nature does a lot on the perimeter.' The detention facility is located at an isolated Everglades airfield surrounded by swampland. Photo: Office of Attorney General James Uthmeier via AP 'There's really nowhere to go. If you're housed there, if you're detained there, there's no way in, no way out,' Uthmeier added. US President Donald Trump, a Republican, has sought to ramp up the detention and deportation of migrants, saying it was needed after millions crossed the border illegally under Democrat Joe Biden.
RTHK
2 hours ago
- RTHK
Nato leaders gather to finalise defence spending
Nato leaders gather to finalise defence spending From left, Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump pose for a picture on the sidelines of the Nato Summit in The Hague. Photo: Reuters Jamie Clarke reports Nato leaders gather in The Hague on Wednesday for a summit tailor-made for US President Donald Trump, with European allies hoping a pledge to hike defence spending will prompt him to dispel doubts about his commitment to the alliance. The summit is expected to endorse a higher defence spending goal of five percent of GDP - a response to a demand by Trump and to Europeans' fears that Russia poses an increasingly direct threat to their security following the 2022 war in Ukraine. Nato officials are hoping the conflict between Israel and Iran, and the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend, will not overshadow the gathering, hosted by alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte in his home city. Trump has threatened not to protect Nato members if they fail to meet spending targets and he raised doubts about his commitment again on his way to the summit by avoiding directly endorsing the alliance's Article 5 mutual defence clause. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he said there were "numerous definitions" of the clause. "I'm committed to saving lives. I'm committed to life and safety. And I'm going to give you an exact definition when I get there," he said. The new target - to be achieved over the next 10 years - is a big increase on the current goal of two percent of GDP, although it will be measured differently. It would amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in extra annual spending. Countries would spend 3.5 percent of GDP on core defence - such as troops and weapons - and 1.5 percent on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle military vehicles. (Reuters)
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
‘Tactical move': why Japan pulled plug on US security talks amid defence spending row
Japan 's abrupt cancellation of scheduled security talks with the United States reflects a calculated effort to deflect mounting American pressure and prevent Washington from intertwining trade disputes with defence obligations, analysts say. Advertisement Tokyo is also angling to re-engage with Washington after the Upper House election on July 20, hoping to negotiate from 'a position of domestic strength', according to observers. The Financial Times first reported on Friday that Japan had called off a planned high-level meeting after the Trump administration demanded Tokyo increase its defence spending. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for the annual '2+2' security talks. But Tokyo cancelled the meeting, according to the report citing unnamed sources, after the US had pressed Japan to raise its defence budget to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product – up from an earlier request of 3 per cent. Advertisement Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that Washington was now pressuring all its Asian allies, including Tokyo, to target defence spending as high as 5 per cent of GDP.
