US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities at the weekend did not destroy the country’s nuclear program, early intelligence suggests contrary to claims by President Donald Trump, a report states.
Citing four people briefed on the initial assessment produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, CNN reports that the strikes likely only set Iran’s nuclear ambitions back by months.
The DIA, the intelligence arm of the Pentagon, based its assessment on battle damage anal;ysis conducted by U.S. Central Command in the aftermath of the strikes on Saturday night, according to one source who spoke with CNN.
While analysis of the damage inflicted to the three sites is ongoing and could change as intelligence becomes more available, these early findings are at offs with Trump’s repeated claims that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.
The same claim was made on Sunday by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Two of the people familiar with the assessment cited by CNN said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed. One said the centrifuges are largely “intact.”
That person added: “So the assessment is that the U.S. set them back maybe a few months, tops.”
The White House acknowledged the existence of the assessment to the network but said they disagreed with it.
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