Former President Donald Trump strongly rejected media reports–including one by CNN–that U.S. intelligence assessments showed his June attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities only temporarily “set back” their progress rather than completely dismantle them.
According to CNN and The New York Times, an early Pentagon/DIA damage assessment presented to congressional leaders on June 24 indicated that while aboveground structures and entrances experienced damage during the bombing raid on Tehran, most underground centrifuges and stockpiles of enriched uranium remained undamaged and mostly undisturbed by bomb blasts. (Sources: newsweek.com and guardian.com for these reports; Wikipedia is another good resource here).
The classified evaluation concluded Iran could quickly resume nuclear activities despite President Trump’s assertions to the contrary; contrary to which, Iranian sites may resume nuclear production within months despite his public pronouncements that these were totally destroyed, according to sources like The Guardian, En.Wikipedia.Org, and AAPnews.Com
Trump responded by attacking CNN and MSNBC before departing for the NATO summit, calling them “feige tapere” and “scum,” as he demanded they apologize to B-2 bomber pilots he praised for successfully carrying out their missions (which can be read about on The Daily Beast, Aftenposten.no and Newypost.com).
He declared the strikes to have been “very successful”, saying Iran’s nuclear capability had been neutralized (nypost.com/+3|en.wikipedia/+3/theguardian).
White House officials stated that damage assessments are “ongoing,” dismissing any premature conclusions of the report as inaccurate and premature, according to reports by The Daily Beast, Aftenposten and Apnews.com.
Defense officials hailed the strikes as an “overwhelming success”, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth echoing President Trump’s view that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were “effectively eliminated” newsweek.com. +6 for each. Also check aftenposten.no +6 and en.wikipedia.org +6 as possible references.
But despite administration pushback, lawmakers were alarmed at early intelligence reports of President Donald Trump’s military strike plans without decisive impact. While some GOP congressmen supported his military move, others expressed doubt as well as requested transparency regarding war-powers authority for congressional war-powers legislation (APNews.com).
Independent analysts were equally dubious. One UN nuclear weapons inspector pointed out that these findings “contradict” what has been asserted by the administration, suggesting the program remains resilient (nypost.com).
Global reactions have been divided: Israel’s Prime Minister welcomed Trump as a friend of Israel while European leaders cautioned that military actions alone risk undermining nonproliferation efforts. International voices stressed diplomacy and inspection as important next steps.
Trump, on the other hand, has reiterated his message at NATO by emphasizing that strikes should not be called into question and suggesting media criticism undermines national security and morale.
As classified briefings to Capitol Hill resume later this week, debate will turn towards whether Iran has truly been delayed or only deterred, testing both the credibility of both the Pentagon and former president Obama.