US strikes only set back Iran's nuclear program by a few months, leaked intelligence says
US media reports say leaked intelligence has cast doubt on US President Donald Trump's assertion that Iran's nuclear facilities have been obliterated.
A preliminary assessment reportedly found the weekend strikes only set back the country's nuclear program by a few months.
Details of the report, by the Pentagon's intelligence arm, were provided to CNN and The New York Times. The White House criticised the assessment as "flat-out wrong" and said it had been leaked by a "low-level loser".
According to multiple unnamed sources cited by the outlets, the assessment also found:
The Defense Intelligence Agency assessment was preliminary and a clear picture was yet to form, according to the reports.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the assessment was: "Flat-out wrong and was classified as 'top secret' but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.
"The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran's nuclear program," she said in a post on X.
"Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration."
The US bombings, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, targeted Iran's three main nuclear sites — Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.
The latter, a heavily fortified uranium-enrichment facility built beneath a mountain, was targeted by 13,000kg "bunker-buster" bombs — the weapons considered most likely to reach it.
After the strikes, Mr Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the targets were "obliterated". General Dan Caine, the US's top-ranking military officer, said initial indications were "all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction", but full assessments would take time.
Mr Trump has been critical of media coverage questioning the effectiveness of the strikes.
"Those pilots hit their targets, those targets were obliterated and the pilots should be given credit," he said on Tuesday, local time.
"These cable networks are real losers."
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