No known intelligence that Iran moved uranium, U.S. defense chief says
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine, speak during a press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.
By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium to shield it from U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear program during the weekend.
U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities early Sunday local time using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs.
The results of the strikes are being closely watched to see how far they may have set back Iran's nuclear program.
"I'm not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise," Hegseth told an often fiery news conference.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who watched the exchange with reporters, echoed his defense secretary, saying it would have taken too long to remove anything.
"The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of (the) facility," Trump wrote on his social media platform, without providing evidence.
Several experts have cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes, and could be hiding it in locations unknown to Israel, the U.S. and U.N. nuclear inspectors.
They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing "unusual activity" at Fordow on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance to the facility. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday most of the 60% highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the attack.
WHEREABOUTS OF URANIUM
The Financial Times, citing European intelligence assessments, reported that Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact since it was not concentrated at Fordow.
Hegseth's comments denying such claims came at the news briefing where he also accused journalists of downplaying the success of the U.S. strikes following a leaked preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting they may have only set back Iran by months.
He said the assessment was low confidence, and, citing comments from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, said it had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged and would take years to rebuild.
Ratcliffe, Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a classified briefing on the strikes on Thursday for all 100 members of the U.S. Senate.
Tulsi Gabbard, who normally would conduct such briefings as director of national intelligence, was not scheduled to participate. Trump said last week that she was wrong in suggesting there was no evidence Iran was building a nuclear weapon.
The Senate briefing had been scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed. Senators are expected to vote this week on a resolution that would require congressional approval for strikes against Iran, although the measure is not expected to be enacted.
At the Pentagon news conference, Hegseth described the strikes as "historically successful." His comments came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday Iran would respond to any future U.S. attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East.
Khamenei claimed victory after 12 days of war, and promised Iran would not surrender despite Trump's calls.
MEDIA 'HATRED'
During the news conference, Hegseth criticized the media, without evidence, for having an anti-Trump bias.
"It's in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad," Hegseth said.
"There are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that ... because of the hatred of this press corps, are undermined," he said.
Trump praised Hegseth's news conference as: "One of the greatest, most professional, and most 'confirming' News Conferences I have ever seen!"
On X, Hegseth thanked Trump for his praise.
During the press conference, Caine, the top U.S. general largely stuck to technical details, outlining the history of the bunker-busting bombs used. Caine showed a video testing the bombs on a bunker like the ones struck on Sunday.
Caine declined to provide his own assessment of the strike and deferred to the intelligence community. He denied being under any pressure to change his assessment to present a more optimistic view of the U.S. strikes.
He also said he would not change his assessment due to politics. Uniformed military officials are supposed to remain apolitical and provide their best military advice.
"I've never been pressured by the president or the secretary to do anything other than tell them exactly what I'm thinking, and that's exactly what I've done," he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
an hour ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
NATO Summit: Western Nations Barely Maintained Their ‘Unity'
At a time when the international situation is extremely tense, it is praiseworthy for the moment that the United States and European countries have placed the highest priority on confirming their unity. However, it remains to be seen whether their strong alliance can be maintained in the future. At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit held in The Hague, the Netherlands, the 32 member nations agreed on a new target to increase defense spending from 2% of gross domestic product to 5%. They aim to achieve the target by 2035. Of the 5%, 3.5% will be allocated to 'core defense requirements,' such as equipment procurement, while 1.5% will be assigned to strengthening defense-related infrastructure, such as ports and roads, and investing in the defense industry, among other purposes. The 5% target was demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticized Europe for its low share of defense spending. European countries have agreed to this despite their difficult fiscal conditions only because they are taking the threat of Russia, which is engaged in aggression against Ukraine, more seriously. Russia and Ukraine are engaging in a new form of warfare, in which, for example, they are attacking each other with drones that can fly long distances at low altitudes. Further strengthening of defense and deterrence capabilities is essential to protect their sovereignty and territorial integrity, and it is significant that NATO has agreed to increase its defense budget. The leaders' declaration clearly stated that NATO would reaffirm its commitment to collective defense based on Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which treats an armed attack on an allied member as an attack on the alliance as a whole. But until immediately before the start of the summit, Trump had said that whether he would support this 'depends on your definition.' In his first-term administration, Trump had also mentioned withdrawing the United States from NATO. It seems unlikely that he has changed his mind about leaving Europe's problems to Europe. The latest agreement can be said to have been reached on thin ice, with Europe making major concessions in order to keep the United States in the alliance. As a result, discussions on support for Ukraine, which was supposed to be the main topic on the agenda, did not go deeper. In consideration of Trump's emphasis on Russia, the leaders' declaration did not even include words that criticize Russian's aggression against Ukraine. The raison d'etre of NATO could be called into question. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was invited to the NATO summit but did not attend. Japan had attended the summit for three consecutive years until last year, during which then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida worked hard to increase interest in the Indo-Pacific region, which is geographically distant from Europe. The decision not to attend is hard to understand. Some believe that Ishiba was absent because he was wary of the United States asking Japan to raise its defense spending to 5% of GDP. However, strengthening Japan's defense capabilities is a pressing issue that must be promptly addressed, and is a problem that should be decided by Japan on its own. (From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 27, 2025)
Asahi Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Trump angers A-bombed cities by comparing them to attack on Iran
Terumi Tanaka, who represents Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks to high school students in Sapporo on May 24. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) Hibakusha and local officials are outraged that U.S. President Donald Trump likened the recent U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities to the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Terumi Tanaka, who represents Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations), called Trump's remarks 'out of line.' 'Nothing has changed 80 years after the war,' Tanaka said, referring to how the U.S. flaunts its military power without looking at 'what happened under the mushroom cloud.' Trump made the remarks on June 25 while fielding questions from reporters during his meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in the Hague, Netherlands. Regarding the 'cease-fire agreement' reached between Iran and Israel after an armed conflict over nuclear development, Trump touted the results of the U.S. bombing attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump stated his belief that the U.S. military intervention directly led to ending the war between Iran and Israel. 'That hit ended the war," he said. "I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war. This ended (this) war.' Officials of Hiroshima and Nagasaki immediately reacted to the remarks. The Hiroshima city assembly on June 26 unanimously passed a resolution stating, 'As the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima, we must never overlook or tolerate statements that justify the dropping of the atomic bombs or situations that threaten civil liberties.' The resolution also referred to the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, urging 'a peaceful resolution of all armed conflicts from a humanitarian standpoint.' Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki told reporters that he was not aware of the exact purpose of Trump's remarks, but added, 'If the remarks were to justify the dropping of the atomic bombs, it would be extremely regrettable as an atomic-bombed city.' Hibakusha are angered that Trump's comparison seems to glorify achieving peace through the use of force. Near the end of World War II, U.S. President Harry S. Truman justified the dropping of the atomic bombs to save the lives of many American soldiers. However, some 210,000 people died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and those who survived continue to suffer from atomic bomb disease. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo in October 2024, citing the weakening of the 'nuclear taboo.' Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Israel's invasion of Gaza, Tanaka worries that if the situations continue to escalate, the end result will be the use of nuclear weapons. 'This is why we have no choice but to abolish nuclear weapons,' he said emphatically. (This article was compiled from reports written by Yosuke Watanabe, Jin Hirakawa, Hayashi Yanagawa, Takashi Ogawa, and correspondent Kayoko Geji.)
The Mainichi
3 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Iran's Khamenei resurfaces to warn against future US attacks in first statement since ceasefire
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday that his country had delivered a "slap to America's face" by striking a U.S. air base in Qatar and warned against further attacks in his first public comments since a ceasefire agreement with Israel. Khamenei's prerecorded speech that aired on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19, was filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries. The 86-year-old, a skilled orator known for his forceful addresses to the country's more than 90 million people, appeared more tired than he had just a week ago, speaking in a hoarse voice and occasionally stumbling over his words. The supreme leader downplayed U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites Sunday using bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles, saying that U.S. President Donald Trump -- who said the attack "completely and fully obliterated" Iran's nuclear program -- had exaggerated its impact. "They could not achieve anything significant," Khamenei said. Missing from his more than 10-minute video message was any mention of Iran's nuclear program and the status of their facilities and centrifuges after extensive U.S. and Israeli strikes. His characterization of Monday's strike on the U.S. air base in Qatar contrasted with U.S. accounts of it as a limited attack with no casualties. The White House responded to Khamenei's video, accusing him of trying to "save face." "Any commonsense, open-minded person knows the truth about the precision strikes on Saturday night," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. "They were wildly successful." UN nuclear watchdog confirms damage to Iran sites The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi, reiterated Thursday that the damage done by Israeli and U.S. strikes at Iranian nuclear facilities "is very, very, very considerable" and that he can only assume the centrifuges are not operational. "I think annihilated is too much, but it suffered enormous damage," Grossi told French broadcaster RFI. The IAEA has not been allowed to visit any of the Iranian facilities to do an independent assessment of the damage. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, also conceded Wednesday that "our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure." Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists. After Sunday's attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump was able to help negotiate a ceasefire that came into effect Tuesday. Iranian leader warns US against further attacks Khamenei claimed the U.S. had only intervened in the war because "it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed." "It entered the war to save them, yet it gained nothing," he said. He said his country's attack Monday on the U.S. base in Qatar was significant, since it shows Iran "has access to important U.S. centers in the region and can act against them whenever it deems necessary." "The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America's face," he said, adding, "This action can be repeated in the future." "Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price," he said. Trump has dismissed the retaliatory attack as a "very weak response," saying that the U.S. had been warned by Iran in advance and emphasizing that there had been no casualties. With the ceasefire, life slowly returns to normal in Iran On Thursday, Iran partially reopened its airspace, which had been closed since the war began, and shops in Tehran's capital began to reopen, with traffic returning to the streets. Majid Akhavan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said Iran had reopened its airspace for the eastern half of the country to domestic and international flights, including those transiting Iranian airspace. Earlier this week, Tehran said 606 people had been killed in the conflict in Iran, with 5,332 people wounded. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group released figures Wednesday suggesting Israeli strikes on Iran had killed at least 1,054 and wounded 4,476. The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, said 417 of those killed were civilians and 318 were security forces. At least 28 people were killed in Israel and more than 1,000 wounded, according to officials there. During the 12-day war, Iran fired more than 550 missiles at Israel with a 90% interception rate, according to new statistics released by Israeli authorities Thursday. Israel, meantime, hit more than 720 Iranian military infrastructure targets and eight nuclear-related sites, Israel said. Trump has also asserted that American and Iranian officials will talk next week, giving rise to cautious hope for longer-term peace. Iran has not acknowledged that any such talks would take place, though U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. A sixth round of U.S.-Iran negotiations was scheduled for earlier this month in Oman but was canceled after Israel attacked Iran. Iran has insisted that it will not give up its nuclear program. In a vote underscoring the tough path ahead, its parliament agreed Wednesday to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country's cooperation with the IAEA, which has monitored the program for years.
