US Intelligence report contradicts Trump's claim on Iran nuclear strikes success

Express Tribune

6 hours ago

A satellite overview shows the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility, along with damage from recent airstrikes, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, near Qom, Iran, June 24, 2025. Maxar Photo:REUTERS
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US airstrikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear capability and only set it back by a few months, according to a preliminary US intelligence assessment, as a shaky ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump took hold between Iran and Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday, both Iran and Israel signaled that the air war between the two nations had ended, at least for now, after Trump publicly scolded them for violating a ceasefire he announced at 0500 GMT.
As the two countries lifted civilian restrictions after 12 days of war - which the US joined with an attack on Iran's uranium-enrichment facilities - each sought to claim victory.
Trump said over the weekend that the US deployment of 30,000-pound bombs had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program.
But that claim appeared to be contradicted by an initial assessment by one of his administration's intelligence agencies, according to three people familiar with the matter.
One of the sources said Iran's enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and the country's nuclear program, much of which is buried deep underground, may have been set back only a month or two.
Iran says its nuclear research is for civilian energy production.
According to the report, which was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities, but did not collapse underground buildings, said one of the people familiar with its findings.
🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱 A former CIA analyst, speaking to Al-Jazeera, launched a scathing attack on Trump administration:
'There's a group of complete idiots and ignorant sitting in the White House. They have no idea what's actually going on. From what we know so far, the so-called attack on… pic.twitter.com/JLg0AYVsPu — Defense Intelligence (@DI313_) June 25, 2025
Multiple key media houses covered this report although the White House said the intelligence assessment was "flat out wrong."
CNN Exclusive: Early US intel suggests American strikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear sites and likely only set the program back by months, sources say. https://t.co/5mzZGcRGW1 — CNN International (@cnni) June 24, 2025
Trump promptly took to X to criticize media coverage, stating that CNN and The New York Times were "quick to team up to demean the most successful military strikes in history."
"We have removed two immediate existential threats to us: the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles," Netanyahu said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a "great victory," according to Iranian media. Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the US, according to official news agency IRNA.
Israel launched the surprise air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran, which denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities.
Witkoff rejects 'intelligence report'
US President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff has rejected an intelligence report claiming that recent US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan failed to dismantle the country's nuclear program, according to Al Jazeera.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114741178126658442
Speaking to Fox News, Witkoff asserted, 'All three sites suffered damage to most, if not all, of their centrifuges—damage that makes it nearly impossible for Iran to revive its nuclear program anytime soon.'
'In my opinion, and in the opinion of many experts who've reviewed the raw data, recovery could take years,' he added.
Witkoff also condemned the leak of the intelligence report, calling it 'treasonous.'
🚨 BREAKING: Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff says whoever is LEAKING the Trump Iran strike "intel" to CNN to fuel fake news reporting is committing TREASON.
"It's TREASONOUS. It ought to be investigated. Whoever is responsible for it should be held accountable."
Find them,… pic.twitter.com/mAxwObVmQN — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 24, 2025
'It must be investigated, and those responsible should be held fully accountable,' he informed Al Jazeera.
Some centrifuges still remained intact after the attacks, the Washington Post said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the report.
Trump's administration told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that its weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had "degraded" Iran's nuclear program, short of Trump's earlier assertion that the facilities had been "obliterated."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on June 24 that the attack on Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its weapons program.
"We have removed two immediate existential threats to us: the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles," Netanyahu said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a "great victory," according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the US, according to official news agency IRNA.
Israel launched the surprise air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran, which denies the building of nuclear weapons, retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities.
Talks with Iran 'promising'
Witkoff said on June 24 that talks between the United States and Iran were "promising" and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal.
"We are already talking to each other, not just directly but also through interlocutors. I think that the conversations are promising. We are hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement that resurrects Iran," Witkoff said in an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" show.
"Now its for us to sit down with the Iranians and get to a comprehensive peace agreement, and I am very confident that we are going to achieve that," he added.
Since April, Iran and the US have held indirect talks aimed at finding a new diplomatic solution regarding Iran's nuclear program.
While Washington says it wants to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon, Tehran says its program is peaceful.
'Great victory'
Israel's military lifted restrictions on activity across the country at 8 p.m. local time (1700 GMT), and officials said Ben Gurion Airport, the country's main airport near Tel Aviv, had reopened.
Iran's airspace likewise will be reopened, state-affiliated Nournews reported.
A White House official said Trump brokered the ceasefire deal with Netanyahu, and other administration officials were in touch with the Iranian government.
The truce appeared fragile: Both Israel and Iran took hours to acknowledge they had accepted the ceasefire and accused each other of violating it.
Trump scolded both sides but aimed especially stinging criticism at Israel, telling the close US ally to "calm down now." He later said Israel called off further attacks at his command.
Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said he told his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, that his country would respect the ceasefire unless Iran violated it.
Pezeshkian likewise said Iran would honor the ceasefire as long as Israel did, according to Iranian media.
Whether the Israel-Iran truce can hold is a major question given the deep mistrust between the two foes. But Trump's ability to broker a ceasefire showed Washington retains some leverage in the volatile region.
Israeli armed forces chief of staff Eyal Zamir said a "significant chapter" of the conflict had concluded but the campaign against Iran was not over.
He said the military would refocus on its war against Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.
Iran's military command also warned Israel and the US to learn from the "crushing blows" it delivered during the conflict.
Iranian authorities said 610 people were killed in their country by Israeli strikes and 4,746 injured.
Iran's retaliatory bombardment killed 28 people in Israel, the first time its air defenses were penetrated by large numbers of Iranian missiles.
Oil prices plunged and stock markets rallied worldwide in a sign of confidence inspired by the ceasefire, which allayed fears of disruption to critical oil supplies from the Gulf.
Ceasefire violations?
Earlier in the day, Trump admonished Israel with an obscenity in an extraordinary outburst at an ally whose air war he had joined two days before by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's underground nuclear sites.
Before departing the White House en route to a NATO summit in Europe, Trump told reporters he was unhappy with both sides for the ceasefire breach but particularly frustrated with Israel, which he said had "unloaded" shortly after agreeing to the deal.
"I've got to get Israel to calm down now," Trump said.
Iran and Israel had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing."
Netanyahu's office acknowledged Israel bombed a radar site near Tehran in what it said was retaliation for Iranian missiles fired three-and-a-half hours after the ceasefire was due to begin.
It did not explicitly say whether the strike on the radar site took place before or after they spoke.
The Islamic Republic denied launching any missiles and said Israel's attacks had continued for an hour-and-a-half beyond the time the truce was meant to start.
"Who mediated or how it happened doesn't matter," said Reza Sharifi, 38, heading back to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea, where he had fled with his family. "The war is over. It never should have started in the first place."