- US President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed media organisations for reporting the Pentagon’s early assessment of the American attack on Iran that cast doubt on his administration’s claims that Tehran’s nuclear programme was “obliterated”. He said the reports are an attempt to “demean one of the most successful military strikes in history”, as he insisted Tehran’s nuclear program was “completely destroyed.”
- “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,” the US leader said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
- United States inserted itself on Saturday into Israel’s war on by attacking three Iranian nuclear sites– Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan — with “bunker buster” bombs capable of penetrating 18m (60ft) of concrete or 61m (200ft) of earth before exploding, in an operation that raised urgent questions about what remained of Tehran’s nuclear program.
- A classified preliminary US intelligence report has concluded that US strikes on Iran only set back Tehran’s nuclear program by just a few months, rather than destroying it as claimed by Trump.
- Citing people familiar with the Defence Intelligence Agency findings, US media on Tuesday reported that weekend strikes did not fully eliminate Iran’s centrifuges or stockpile of enriched uranium and only sealed off entrances to some facilities without destroying underground buildings.
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the authenticity of the assessment but said it was “flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked.”
- “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program…Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,” Leavitt posted on X.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also hailed a “historic victory” in his country’s 12-day war against Iran and vowed to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear facilities. “We have achieved a historic victory…Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. We have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project. And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,” Netanyahu said in a televised address to the nation after the start of a ceasefire agreed to by both countries.
- Iran, meanwhile, said it was ready to return to nuclear negotiations with the United States as the ceasefire took hold. But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would continue to “assert its legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic power.
- While Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war for decades, their 12-day conflict was by far the most destructive confrontation between them. Israeli strikes hit nuclear and military targets — killing scientists and senior military figures — as well as residential areas, prompting waves of Iranian missile fire on Israel. The war culminated in US strikes on underground Iranian nuclear sites, followed by an Iranian reprisal targeting the largest US military facility in the Middle East.