&w=3840&q=100)
Intercepted communications reveal Iran sought to downplay damage from US strikes: Report
President Donald Trump has stated that the strikes 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear capabilities. However, US officials have noted that a full evaluation of the damage will require additional time read more
A satellite image shows damage to the tunnel entrances of the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Research Center, following U.S. airstrikes amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Isfahan, Iran, June 22, 2025. File image/ Reuters
Intercepted Iranian communications sought to minimise the level of damage caused by recent US raids on Iran's nuclear facilities, according to The Washington Post, citing four sources familiar with sensitive material shared inside the US government.
A separate source, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report but expressed scepticism about the credibility of the intercepted communications, describing them as unreliable indicators of the true extent of the damage.
The Post report adds to ongoing uncertainty over the impact of the strikes. A leaked preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the attacks may have only delayed Iran's nuclear program by a few months.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
President Donald Trump has stated that the strikes 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear capabilities. However, US officials have noted that a full evaluation of the damage will require additional time.
The White House rejected the Post report.
'The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Post.
In a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday, Trump reiterated his position that the strikes were highly effective. 'It was obliterated like nobody's ever seen before. And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time,' he said during the Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo program.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
38 minutes ago
- Time of India
Stay vigilant to safeguard Constitution: PM on Emergency
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday recalled the 'dark chapter of Emergency' imposed 50 years ago and urged citizens to remain vigilant to safeguard the Constitution. In his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address, the PM quoted three prominent politicians from different ideologies, including two former prime ministers, to showcase how people from all walks had joined hands against imposition of Emergency in 1975. Modi played archival audio recordings of speeches by former prime ministers Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former home minister Jagjivan Ram, recounting the atrocities faced by people during the Emergency period. The PM quoted Desai as saying, 'The oppression that happened for two years... reached its peak when Emergency was imposed on people and people were treated inhumanely.' Modi added, 'This is the voice of the former PM of the country, Morarji Bhai Desai, who spoke about the Emergency in a brief but very clear manner.' 'You can imagine what that period was like. Those who imposed Emergency not only murdered our Constitution but also had the intention to keep the judiciary as their slave,' he said. The PM noted that over one lakh people were jailed, and politicians like George Fernandes were chained, with many enduring 'severe torture' under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). He mentioned Jagjivan Ram, who called the post-Emergency election 'a great campaign to strengthen the foundation of democracy', and Vajpayee, who described it as 'a peaceful revolution' that 'threw the killers of democracy into the dustbin of history'. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 식후 혈당, "이것" 하나면 고민 필요없다. 단 2주만에..! 당뇨 관리 더 알아보기 Undo Shifting to other issues, the PM also mentioned the 10th International Day of Yoga (IDY) on June 21, which saw global participation. He highlighted events like three lakh people practising yoga on Visakhapatnam beach, 2,000 Adivasi students performing 108 surya namaskars, and ITBP soldiers practising in the Himalayas.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
India would love a big, beautiful trade pact with US: Nirmala Sitharaman
AS THE July 9 deadline to avoid the United States' punitive reciprocal tariffs is drawing closer, the government has hinted at uninhibited deal-making with the world's largest economy, but also made an unequivocal commitment to draw definitive red lines in the best interests of India's farmers and livestock breeders. Reacting to President Donald Trump's statement last week that an interim bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in the offing with New Delhi would 'open up' the Indian market for America, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: 'Yes, we would love to have an agreement, a big, good, beautiful one; why not?' In a free-wheeling interview with The Financial Express, Sitharaman said: 'At the junction we are in, and given our growth goals and ambition to be Viksit Bharat by 2047, the sooner we have such agreements with strong economies, the better they will serve us.' According to the Finance Minister, agriculture and dairy have been among the 'very big red lines,' where a high degree of caution has been exercised, during the BTA talks with the US. On a perceived slowdown in investments by the private sector, she said things have started changing for the better. 'At least in the last six months, there is a clear sign that private investments and capacity expansion are happening… There is definitely surplus cash with private companies, and they're probably earning passive income. But we can see signs of change'. Asked what the government is planning to do to reverse urban slowdown, Sitharaman said the sentiment is definitely turning. 'From April, there have clearly been signs of the (positive consumer) sentiment playing out (thanks to the income tax reliefs),' she said. Sitharaman outlined a raft of 'second-generation reforms' to be unleashed soon to impart a structural push to the economy, including 'getting the banks to be better off,' and spurring private investment in nuclear energy. She also indicated that the weighted average Goods and Services Tax (GST) might come down from the current levels, as part of a restructuring of the rates and slabs of the eight-year-old comprehensive indirect tax. She stressed the need to give additional support to merchandise exports, while noting that tax content in exported products is not fully neutralised yet, with certain embedded state and local levies. 'We are looking at different dimension of reforms other than, of course, land and asset monetisation,' she said, while asserting that 'there is no going back on the three labour codes, which states are keenly taking up.' Sitharaman, who met the chiefs of public sector banks Friday for a performance review, acknowledged the issue of their deposit rates (CASA) not growing as much as they used to. 'There will be some kind of attempt by the banks to improve on this,' she said, referring to the 'tightrope walk' of bankers, as people at once want credit to become cheaper and deposits to yield better returns. 'Though banks can go to the market to raise funds, CASA was a cheap capital available,' she said, adding that challenge is compounded by the fact that retail savings are going to the stock markets at a greater pace. She said the time has come for reaching a consensus at the GST Council to design a 'very simplified and easy-to-comply' tax. 'The expectation is that (the average GST rate) will come down, and we are working on it. You can have the revenue buoyancy if the rates are low enough, and that leads to an expansion, which is a normal assumption in economics,' the minister said. In many countries that adopted GST/VAT system over recent decades, the initial rates have been lower than in India, and some of them even managed to bring down the rates further, without taking any hit to revenues. The minister's statement signals that, with buoyant GST revenues, the often-repeated demand for raising the average GST rate to the so-called revenue neutral rate (15%) was unlikely to be pursued, and rates could in general only reduce. That could provide a significant consumption booster to the economy. The minister underlined the need for all states to improve investment climate further, and cautioned that, 'otherwise investments which were coming to some parts of the country cannot reach other parts.' Sitharaman said a major step taken for energy efficiency is the plan to have small, medium, small modular nuclear reactors. 'India needs to ramp up its basic energy base itself,' she said, amid a renewed push to coal-based thermal power to meet the fast-growing peak power demand. '…solar and wind can always be the top-up.' 'The nuclear thing is getting wrapped up. The law will also have to be amended for it, which will happen sooner,' she said.- FE
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump calls for Gaza ceasefire deal as some Palestinians are skeptical
US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged progress in ceasefire talks in the 20-month war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, though some weary Palestinians were skeptical about the chances. Israel issued a new mass evacuation order for parts of northern Gaza. Displaced Palestinians flee Jabalia after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders in Gaza City on June 29, 2025. (AP) Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was set to travel to Washington this week for talks on a ceasefire, an Israeli official said, and plans were being made for Netanyahu to travel there in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a deal. Netanyahu was meeting with his security Cabinet on Sunday evening, the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that hadn't been finalized. 'MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!' Trump wrote on social media early Sunday. Trump raised expectations Friday by saying there could be an agreement within the next week. Some Palestinians doubtful of latest efforts An eight-week ceasefire was reached as Trump took office earlier this year, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps. 'Since the beginning of the war, they have been promising us something like this: Release the hostages and we will stop the war,' said one Palestinian, Abdel Hadi Al-Hour. 'They did not stop the war." Israeli attacks continued. An airstrike Sunday evening hit a house sheltering displaced people in the Jabaliya al-Nazla area, killing at least 15, according to Fares Awad, head of the Gaza's Health Ministry's ambulance and emergency services in the territory's north. He said women and children made up over half the dead. Israel's military did not comment on the strike, but the area fell under the latest evacuation order. During a visit to Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, Netanyahu said that the Israel-Iran war and ceasefire have opened many opportunities: 'First of all, to rescue the hostages. Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both tasks.' Major sticking point for any deal But talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over a major sticking point — whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire agreement. Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi accused Netanyahu of stalling progress on a deal, saying on social media that the Israeli leader insists on a temporary agreement that would free just 10 of the hostages. About 50 hostages remain, with less than half believed to be alive. Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri said that 'Hamas was the only obstacle to ending the war,' without addressing Merdawi's claim. Hamas says it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in Gaza. Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something that the group refuses. The war in Gaza began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostage. Gaza's Health Ministry said that another 88 people had been killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours, raising the war's toll among Palestinians to 56,500. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas government, doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children. The war has displaced most of Gaza's population, often multiple times, obliterated much of the urban landscape and left people overwhelmingly reliant on outside aid, which Israel has limited since the end of the latest ceasefire. Fewer than half of Gaza's hospitals are even partly functional, and more than 4,000 children need medical evacuation abroad, a new U.N. humanitarian assessment says. 'We are exhausted, we are tired. We hope to God that the war will end," said one Palestinian, Mahmoud Wadi. Military moves toward center of Gaza City Israel's military ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians in large swaths of northern Gaza, home to hundreds of thousands who had returned during the ceasefire earlier this year. The order includes multiple neighborhoods in eastern and northern Gaza City, as well as the Jabaliya refugee camp. Palestinians in Gaza City began loading children, bedding and other essentials onto donkey carts, uprooted once more. The military will expand its attacks westward to the city's center, with calls for people to move toward the Muwasi area in southern Gaza, Col. Avichay Adraee, a military spokesperson, said on social media. The offensive aims to move Palestinians to southern Gaza, so forces can more freely operate against militants. Rights groups say it would amount to forcible displacement. Trump slams Netanyahu trial Trump also doubled down on his criticism of the legal proceedings against Netanyahu, who is on trial for alleged corruption, calling it 'a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT.' In the post Saturday evening, Trump said the trial interfered with ceasefire talks, saying Netanyahu 'is right now in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas, which will include getting the Hostages back.' Last week, Trump called for the trial to be canceled. It was a dramatic interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. It unnerved many in Israel, despite Trump's popularity there. The trial has repeatedly been postponed at Netanyahu's request, citing security and diplomatic developments. On Sunday, the court agreed to call off two more days of testimony by him scheduled this week.
