US failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, finds report; Trump says it's an attempt to demean ‘most successful military strike’

A preliminary US intelligence assessment has revealed that the US airstrikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability, unlike what President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed since the nuclear sites were struck. He had said that the US deployment of 30,000-pound bombs had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme. The Defence Intelligence Agency report, however, acknowledged that the strikes set the country’s nuclear capability back by a few months. 

According to a report in Reuters that cited three people who are familiar with the assessment by one of the Trump administration's intelligence agencies. One of the sources said that Iran’s enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and the country's nuclear program, much of which is buried deep underground, may have been set back only a month or two. 

As per the DIA report, the strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the three facilities, but did not collapse underground buildings. The White House said the assessment was “flat out wrong”. 

The US President also doubled down on his claims, and criticised the media for demeaning the “most successful military strikes in history”. “Fake news CNN, together with the failing New York Times, have teamed up in an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history. The nuclear sites in Iran are completely destroyed! both The Times and CNN are getting slammed by the public!” he posted on Truth Social.

Trump also told reporters: "Iran will never be able to rebuild its nuclear facilities. From there? Absolutely not. That place is under a rock. That place is demolished. The B2 pilots did their job better than anybody could have imagined...That place is gone."

However, some centrifuges still remained intact after the attacks, according to a report in the Washington Post. The Trump administration had also told the United Nations Security Council that the weekend strikes on the nuclear sites “degraded” Iran’s nuclear programme. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attack had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its weapons programme.