Iran-Israel latest: Trump’s CIA director insists Iranian nuclear sites ‘severely damaged’ despite leaked intel – UK Times

Senators are set to meet with top national security officials today as many question president Donald Trump’s decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites — and whether those strikes were ultimately successful.

The classified briefing, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday and was delayed, also comes as the Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution that would require congressional approval if Trump decides to strike Iran again.

Democrats, and some Republicans, have said that the White House overstepped its authority when it failed to seek the advice of Congress and they want to know more about the intelligence that Trump relied on when he authorized the attacks.

“Senators deserve full transparency, and the administration has a legal obligation to inform Congress precisely about what is happening,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who said Tuesday that it was “outrageous” that the Senate and House briefings were postponed.

A similar briefing for House members was pushed to Friday.

CIA director John Ratcliffe, secretary of state Marco Rubio and defence secretary Pete Hegseth are expected to brief the senators today.

Director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was scheduled to be at the Tuesday briefing, but will not be attending, according to a person familiar with the schedule.

Satellite pictures taken after the U.S. military’s airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities show significant damage to the sites – but not necessarily to the extent claimed by Donald Trump.

The U.S. president has repeatedly claimed that the facilities in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz were “completely and totally obliterated” in the weekend attack.

The images do appear to show damage on the ground following the bombing raid, including new craters, holes in mountain ridges and collapsed tunnels. However, they did not reveal definitive proof that the heavily fortified underground facilities were breached after US B-2 bombers struck the nuclear facilities.

The head of Nato fawned over President Donald Trump at a press conference on Wednesday, excusing the president’s foul-mouthed tirade against Iran and Israel as “daddy” using “strong language.”

Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of Nato, beamed while sitting next to Trump at The Hague on Wednesday and praised the president for intervening in the conflict between Iran and Israel by sending U.S. bombers to destroy nuclear facilities.

Trump called the mission a “tremendous victory for everybody” and claimed hostilities between Israel and Iran would stop by using an analogy of two children fighting in the schoolyard.

CIA director John Ratcliffe has said that a body of credible intelligence indicated that Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged by recent US strikes, and that it would take years to be rebuilt.

“This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years,” Mr Ratcliffe said in a statement.

His statement comes after a Defense Intelligence Agency initial assessment leaked on Tuesday found that the US bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites had only set back the country’s nuclear program by several months.

The CIA chief claimed that the new findings were based on “credible intelligence” and that they contradicted what he called “illegally sourced public reporting regarding the destruction of key Iranian nuclear facilities”.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the US strikes “obliterated” the nuclear facilities, even though satellite images showed the strikes managed to cause limited damage to the sites.

Iran’s health ministry has claimed that at least 610 people, including 13 children, were killed in Israel’s almost two-week-long airstrikes on Iran.

The ministry spokesperson said just over a hundred people were killed in the final night of the conflict before the ceasefire commenced on Tuesday.

Additionally, 4,700 people suffered injuries during the 12-day war, the spokesperson said.

The figures fell short of US-based human rights group HRANA’s estimated death toll of 1,054 people.

US president Donald Trump has demanded that the Israeli justice system drop its corruption case against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great War Time Prime Minister!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

In his lengthy rant, Mr Trump called the case against his ally “politically motivated”.

“Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State,” Mr Trump added.

Iran’s parliament has agreed to fast-track a proposal that would effectively end co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf criticised the IAEA for having “refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities” by the United States.

“For this reason, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend co-operation with the IAEA until security of nuclear facilities is ensured, and Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme will move forward at a faster pace,” Mr Qalibaf told politicians.

IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi said he had written to Iran to discuss resuming inspections of their nuclear facilities.

“We need to return,” he said.