Trump and his defence chief Pete Hegseth earlier said Iran’s nuclear facilities had been ‘obliterated’
A preliminary US intelligence assessment has determined that American strikes over the weekend on Iranian nuclear facilities have set back Tehran’s programme by only a matter of months, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The initial report was prepared by the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s main intelligence arm and one of 18 US intelligence agencies, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss classified matters.
The classified assessment is at odds with the statements of US President Donald Trump and high-ranking US officials – including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. They have said the weekend strikes, which used a combination of bunker-busting bombs and more conventional weapons, essentially eliminated Iran’s nuclear programme.
Trump’s administration on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that its weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had “degraded” Iran’s nuclear programme, short of Trump’s earlier assertion that the facilities had been “obliterated”.
