The analysis, prepared by the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence branch, determined that critical elements of Iran’s nuclear programme, including centrifuges, could be brought back online within a relatively short timeframe, according to several individuals familiar with the report.
The DIA’s conclusions, which are based on an initial battle damage assessment carried out by US Central Command — the military authority responsible for operations in the Middle East — indicate that Trump’s public statements claiming that the facilities had been “obliterated” may have exaggerated the extent of the damage.
Damage at the Iranian Fordo enrichment facility following the US strikes on 23 June (Photo: Maxar Technologies/AP)“It goes without saying that the leaking of that sort of information, whatever the information, whatever site it goes out on, is outrageous, it is treasonous,” he said.
In a televised address on Saturday night following the operation, Trump claimed that US forces had entirely wiped out Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities located at Natanz and Fordow — the latter being a site deeply embedded underground — as well as at Isfahan, where enriched material had been stored.
Media reports about the DIA assessment appeared to enrage Trump, who accused news organisations on Tuesday evening of downplaying the military strike by suggesting it had merely delayed Iran’s nuclear programme by a few months.
Donald Trump addresses the nation, alongside US Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth from the White House following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities (Photo: Carlos Barria /AFP)
However, speaking exclusively with CNN, two individuals familiar with the assessment stated that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile had not been destroyed. One of the sources noted that most of the centrifuges remained “intact,” while another said intelligence indicated the enriched uranium was relocated from the targeted facilities before the US strikes took place.
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Trump dismissed the report as “fake news”, while Witkoff said the claims were “completely preposterous.”
Trump admitted during a Nato summit on Wednesday that the intelligence following the strikes was “very inconclusive”. He added: “The intelligence says we don’t know” but that “it could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.”
Uranium ‘completely’ destroyed vs missing
One of the biggest questions that has emerged following the US operation is how much nuclear material Iran was able to preserve, and where it may be hiding it now.
“We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel,” Vance said.
The US has conducted airstrikes on three nuclear sites in Iran but despite claims that the mission was successful, there are questions about the extent of the damage (Photo: Murat Usubali/Anadolu/Getty Images)Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium represents a significant advancement toward weapons-grade material, which is typically enriched to around 90 per cent.
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Responding to questions about Trump’s claims of decisive victory in the operation that appeared to contradict the initial intelligence assessment, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the revelation about the content of the alleged assessment was “fake news” and that it was leaked by an “anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community”.
“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 programme,” she said.
However, back in January, the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency gave a briefing to political appointees at the Pentagon suggesting that the GBU-57 bunker busters would not penetrate deep enough underground and that only a tactical nuclear weapon would destroy Fordo, according to reports.
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