The United States sets plans for only a few months on Iran’s nuclear website: Report – Country
A new intelligence report found that Iran's nuclear program was restored only a few months after the U.S. strike and was not “completely and completely eliminated” as U.S. President Donald Trump said.
An intelligence report released by the defense intelligence agency on Monday contradicts Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's status on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Two sources confirmed the report to the Associated Press, while Reuters said they had spoken with three familiar people. The people have no right to resolve the matter publicly and speak under anonymity.
The people said the report found that despite the major damage caused by the nuclear websites of Natanz and Isfahan on Saturday, it was not completely destroyed.
The assessment found that, according to the people, at least some of Iran's highly abundant uranium were moved out of multiple locations and survived before the U.S. strike, which also found that Iran's centrifuge was basically complete.
One of the people said the entrance collapsed and the infrastructure collapsed, so it took time to resolve, but the underground infrastructure was not destroyed. The person also said previous assessments warned Fordo about this result.
The White House strongly opposed the assessment, calling it a “wrong mistake.”
“The leak of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilot who carried out a perfectly executed mission to eliminate Iran's nuclear program,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “Everyone knows what happens when you throw a 14-pound 30,000-pound bomb perfectly on target: total elimination.”
Trump said in comments and posts on social media in recent days (including Tuesday) that the strikes have left Iran's ruins “completely destroyed” and that Iran will never rebuild its nuclear facilities.
Trump told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that its weekend strike against Iran's nuclear facility “lowered” Iran's nuclear program, which is not yet Trump's earlier assertion that the facility has been “phased out.”
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“For years, I assure you that Iran will have no nuclear weapons, and indeed… 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.
A source told Reuters that the assessment was not universally accepted and had significant differences.
The Pentagon disputes the notion that Iran’s nuclear program damage is minimal, although it does not raise questions about the DIA assessment.
“Based on everything we see, and I've seen everything – our bombing campaign eliminates Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a statement to Reuters.
“Our huge bombs hit the right spot on every target and worked well. The effects of these bombs were buried under the rubble hills in Iran; therefore, anyone who says that bombs are not devastating is just trying to destroy the president and the successful mission.”
As more information surfaces, initial military assessments may change, and different opinions among different U.S. intelligence agencies are not uncommon.
Evaluating damage to the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites is expected to be a daunting task, and the DIA is not the only agency to do the job.
The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the DIA assessment. ODNI coordinates the work of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the DIA, the intelligence department of the Department of Defense, which is responsible for generating intelligence on the capabilities of foreign military and confronters.
CNN reported its first intelligence assessment on Tuesday.
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 has evidence that I’ve seen nuclear programs have been completely eliminated, as Donald Trump claims,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday.
Confidential briefings on the matter between House and Senate members were canceled Tuesday.
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and David Klepper contributed to the report. Other Reuters documents
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