Iran-Israel latest: Trump strikes did not destroy Tehran's nuclear sites, intelligence report suggests
Intelligence report suggests Trump strikes did not destroy Tehran's nuclear sites
US military strikes on three of Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend did not destroy the country's nuclear program and only set back Tehran's program by only a matter of months, a preliminary US intelligence assessment suggests.
Analysts said that, if the assessment was based on satellite imagery, the extent of damage to the deeply buried Fordow uranium enrichment facility would not necessarily be revealed.
The initial report was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's main intelligence arm and one of 18 US intelligence agencies.
However, President Donald Trump and high-ranking US officials - including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said the weekend strikes, which used a combination of bunker-busting bombs and more conventional weapons, essentially eliminated Iran's nuclear program.
Trump's administration on Tuesday told the U.N Security Council 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."
Asked for comment, the White House pointed to a statement by spokesperson 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.
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