A new U.S. intelligence report found that Iran’s nuclear program was established only a few months after the U.S. strike and was not “completely eliminated”, as U.S. President Donald Trump said.
An early intelligence report released by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on Monday contradicts Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the status of Iran’s nuclear facilities. The people have no right to resolve the matter publicly and speak under anonymity.
The people said the report found that despite a major damage caused by nuclear sites in Natanz and Isfahan, the sites were not completely destroyed, the people said.
The United States is hopeful to restart negotiations with Iran to convince it to abandon its nuclear program altogether, but some experts are concerned that the U.S. strike and the potential for Iran to retain certain capabilities may push Tehran towards developing functional weapons.
The assessment also shows that, according to the people, at least some of Iran’s highly abundant uranium (the uranium necessary for the creation of nuclear weapons) were moved out of multiple locations and survived before the strike. It also found that Iran’s centrifuge (to further enrich uranium to weapon-level levels) was intact.
The assessment found that at the deep-buried Fuduo uranium enrichment plant, the U.S. B-2 stealth bomber dropped several 30,000-pound bunker bombs, and the entrance collapsed but did not damage the underground infrastructure. People said intelligence officials warned of the outcome in a previous assessment before the strike.
The White House pushes back
The White House strongly opposed the assessment, calling it a “wrong mistake.”
“The leak of this so-called assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who have performed a perfectly executed mission to destroy Iran’s nuclear program,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “Everyone knows what happens when you throw 14 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on your target: Total elimination.”
U.S. President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the message sent to him from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on social media on Tuesday. In the text exchange, Rat congratulated his “decisive action” in Iran and got all NATO allies to agree to use at least 5% of their GDP for national defense.
The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) declined to comment on the DIA evaluation. ODNI coordinates the work of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, including DIA, the intelligence department of the U.S. Department of Defense, which is responsible for producing intelligence for the capabilities of foreign military and opponents. The Israeli government has not conducted any formal assessment of the U.S. strike.
David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector, said that based on commercial satellite images after the explosion, he believes the U.S. attack effectively destroyed Iran’s uranium enrichment program but failed to eliminate the long-term threat.
“Iran retains the ability to explode and produce weapon-grade uranium,” Albright, head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, said in a post about X.
Netanyahu applauds US participation
Trump said in comments and posts on social media in recent days, including Tuesday, that the strike “completely destroyed” the locations and that Iran will never rebuild its nuclear facilities.
“For years, I assure you that Iran will have no nuclear weapons, and in fact… we have brought a nuclear plan to destroy Iran,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Tuesday.
He said the United States, who joined Israel, was “historic” and thanked Trump.
CNN reported its first intelligence assessment on Tuesday. Reuters and the New York Times also released reports on the DIA assessment.
External experts suspect Iran may have hidden a core component of its nuclear program as it stares at the possibility of U.S. bunker bombs available at its nuclear sites.
The bulldozers and trucks visible in satellite images went on strike just a few days ago, sparking speculation among experts that Iran may have shifted its abundant uranium reserves to an unknown location. Incomplete destruction of nuclear sites may still leave the country, with the ability to spin weapon-grade uranium and fire bombs.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful, but it is rich in uranium and exceeds the level required for any civilian use. Before the U.S. strike, the theocratic leadership of the United States and others against Iran has not ordered the country to pursue operation of nuclear weapons, but the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly warned that Iran has enough abundant uranium to make several nuclear bombs and should do so.
Democrats’ suspicion
Democrats have previously said Trump’s claim that the weekend strike eliminated or severely revoked Iran’s nuclear program and has not yet been supported by evidence.
“Zero evidence shows that as Donald Trump claims, I see the nuclear program completely and completely gone,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday.
Confidential briefings on the matter between House and U.S. Senate members were canceled Tuesday.
Former British Foreign Secretary William Hague said no matter how much damage a U.S. strike caused, it will be an ongoing challenge to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
“In the long run, it will be very difficult to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons by force,” The Hague told Times. “This will require an agreement.
“In history, a power that is humiliated and defeated often finds a way to come back in the future – in which case, nuclear weapons in the future.”
