The White House is downplaying a preliminary leaked intelligence report that suggested Iran’s nuclear program may have only been set back by a few months. President Donald Trump insists the sites hit by several 30,000-pound bombs were obliterated.
A report from the Defense Intelligence Agency based primarily on satellite imagery found that the U.S. attack on the three nuclear sites caused significant damage, but the facilities were not completely destroyed, The Associated Press reported.
A senior DIA official told the Financial Times the report was a “preliminary, low confidence assessment.”
Trump, who has spent the last day at the NATO summit, is projecting confidence in the military action. He claimed there was “monumental damage” to all of the nuclear sites in Iran, pointing to satellite images.
Over the last several days, concerns have been raised that the U.S. strikes were not as successful as the administration is saying.
Trump dispelled concerns over Iran possibly moving its uranium before the attack and has suggested Iran could one day be a trading nation. However, the intelligence damage report is fueling speculation that Iran could rebuild its program quickly and force the U.S. to intervene again.
The very early analysis of the attack suggested entrance to the enrichment plant at Fordo collapsed, but the infrastructure underground may not have been destroyed. CNN was first to report the DIA assessment.
The White House shared a series of quotes looking to dispel rumors about the attack. It included Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who said the Israeli assessment is that the attack “significantly damaged the nuclear program,” and set it back by years.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on Tuesday that the assessment was “flat-out wrong.”
“The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program,” she wrote.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also said he’s seen “it all,” which proved that the U.S. attack “obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons.”
“Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly,” Hegseth said in a statement. “The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission.”
Members of Congress are expected to have an intelligence briefing Friday — pushed back from its original date of Tuesday — and lawmakers will likely have many questions about how much damage was done, if the intelligence report was accurate and what the administration plans to do going forward if the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran holds — or doesn’t hold.