A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that recent airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities did not fully destroy the sites and may have only delayed Iran’s nuclear program by a few months, contradicting bold claims made by top U.S. officials.
The report, first revealed by CNN and attributed to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), states that the strikes on three major Iranian sites—Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—inflicted limited long-term damage. These locations have long been suspected by both U.S. and Israeli intelligence of being key to Iran’s alleged secret efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
Despite President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities, sources familiar with the DIA report told CNN that much of Iran’s infrastructure remains intact. One official said that key centrifuges were largely undamaged and that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not eliminated in the strikes.
“The DIA assessment is that the U.S. set them back maybe a few months, tops,” one source was quoted as saying.
Further complicating the narrative, satellite images reviewed by multiple outlets, including Reuters and the Hindustan Times, show visible structural damage but also intact sections of the targeted facilities. Analysts have expressed uncertainty over the extent of the damage to Iran’s underground nuclear operations.
According to Reuters, the intelligence report also noted that portions of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile had been moved prior to the strikes and likely survived the attacks.
In response to the growing scrutiny over the effectiveness of the operation, the White House issued a sharp rebuttal. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned the leaked assessment as politically motivated.
“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,” Leavitt said in a statement. She dismissed the findings as “flat-out wrong.”
The airstrikes, launched over the weekend, marked a significant escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions. While the immediate military objectives may have been partially achieved, the long-term strategic impact on Iran’s nuclear program remains uncertain.
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