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The US air strikes on Iran set again its nuclear progress by lower than six months, in accordance with an early US intelligence evaluation that casts doubt on Donald Trump’s claims to have “obliterated” the programme.
The findings of the preliminary report into the assault by the Protection Intelligence Company, described by some US media, got here simply three days after the US president authorised the bombing of Iran’s key nuclear websites.
The DIA’s findings, revealed on Tuesday by CNN and others, had been furiously rejected by the White Home and the Pentagon, which stood by Trump’s judgment that Iran’s nuclear programme had been destroyed.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned on X that the “alleged ‘evaluation’” had been leaked by “an nameless, low-level loser within the intelligence neighborhood”.
Leavitt added: “Everybody is aware of what occurs once you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs completely on their targets: complete obliteration.”
The report’s findings will elevate questions concerning the deserves of the US army strike, which concerned B-2 stealth bombers and submarine-launched missiles hitting Iranian nuclear websites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, a facility buried half a kilometre underground.
Iran has repeatedly mentioned that its nuclear programme is for civilian functions. US intelligence earlier this yr additionally mentioned that Iran was not constructing a bomb, though Trump rejected that evaluation.
“Primarily based on every little thing we’ve seen — and I’ve seen all of it — our bombing marketing campaign obliterated Iran’s skill to create nuclear weapons. Our huge bombs hit precisely the fitting spot at every goal — and labored completely,” US defence secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned.
“The influence of these bombs is buried underneath a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anybody who says the bombs weren’t devastating is simply making an attempt to undermine the president and the profitable mission,” he added.
The DIA is a part of the US division of defence.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration postponed a labeled briefing for US lawmakers to debate the result of the strikes, drawing fury from Democrats.
Chuck Schumer, the highest Democrat within the Senate, described the postponement as “outrageous”. He added: “They’re bobbing and weaving and ducking. Senators deserve full transparency.”
Pat Ryan, a Democratic congressman from New York and member of the Home armed companies committee, claimed Trump had cancelled the briefing as a result of “his group is aware of they will’t again up his bluster and BS”.
The rising debate within the US about whether or not the mission succeeded got here after Iran’s president mentioned Israel had did not destroy the nation’s nuclear websites and knowhow.
Masoud Pezeshkian mentioned in a late-night handle to his nation on Tuesday that “the aggressor enemy failed in reaching its sinister goals which had been destroying services, declining nuclear information and social unrest”, in accordance with state media.
The president added that whereas Iran suffered lack of life throughout 12-days of battle with Israel, the injury suffered by Israel was “past creativeness”.
Nevertheless, in a pre-recorded handle on Tuesday night time, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed up Trump’s claims, saying the Israeli and US bombing campaigns had introduced Iran’s nuclear programme to “break”.
He additionally threatened to “act in the identical manner” if Iran tried to rebuild it.
Further reporting by James Shotter in Jerusalem