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 people said the assessment found that at least some of Iran's highly abundant uranium were moved out of multiple locations and survived before the strike. It also found that Iran's centrifuge was largely complete.
One people said that the entrance of the Fuduo uranium enrichment plant, which was buried deep, collapsed, but the underground infrastructure was not destroyed. The person also said that previous assessments warned of Fudo's results.
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: Totally eliminate it.”
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.
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.
The U.S. president said the attack is a necessary condition to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies that it is seeking such a weapon, saying its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Netanyahu applauds US participation
“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.
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.
CNN reported its first intelligence assessment on Tuesday. Reuters and the New York Times also released reports on the DIA assessment.
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.”
