Pentagon report doubts Washington's claim of destroying Iran nuke sites

WASHINGTON/TEHRAN -- An assessment report from the Pentagon suggested that the recent US airstrikes did not deal a decisive blow to Iran's nuclear capabilities, US media reported Tuesday.

Citing an evaluation from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), several media outlets revealed that the core components of Iran's nuclear infrastructure, including its centrifuges and stockpiles of enriched uranium, remain largely intact, which contradicts earlier claims by Washington and Tel Aviv.

Iran had moved key materials out of the targeted sites before the strikes, according to US sources familiar with the assessment.

"So the assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops," said a source cited by US media.

The findings, standing in stark contrast to declarations from the administration of US President Donald Trump that claimed the operation had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear ambitions, triggered a backlash from the White House.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the leaked intelligence was "flat-out wrong."

She dismissed the leak as the work of "an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community" and emphasized that the DIA report was classified as "top secret."

Speaking to reporters ahead of a NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday, Trump downplayed the assessment, calling the intelligence "very inconclusive," and said he believed the core infrastructure was destroyed.

"It was very severe. It was obliteration," Trump said.

The US president also lashed out at media coverage of the intelligence assessment a day earlier.

"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," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

In Tel Aviv, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Effie Defrin insisted that Iran's nuclear program has been set back by "years," but acknowledged the Israeli assessment is only preliminary. "It's still too early to determine."

Analysts cautioned about the long-term impact of the strikes, noting that the extent of damage to Iran's key nuclear facilities will be critical in shaping Israel's view of whether its strategic objectives were met, and could influence future negotiations among the involved parties.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that Iran's nuclear program had been "destroyed," calling it a "historic victory."

If Iran tries to rebuild it, Israel will act with "the same determination and the same force" to cut off any such attempt, Netanyahu said.

Eliminating the "nuclear threat" was a central goal behind Israel's strikes on Iran, said Li Fuquan, deputy director of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at China's Northwest University.

If the damage proves limited, Netanyahu could face domestic criticism questioning the legitimacy of the operation -- possibly jeopardizing the durability of the ceasefire, he said.

Li also warned that should Israel determine that Iran's core nuclear facilities were not significantly impaired, and that Tehran retains the ability to quickly resume nuclear activity, it may feel justified in breaching the ceasefire and launching further attacks.

Meanwhile, Iran vowed to continue its nuclear program despite the US and Israeli strikes.

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, confirmed that no pause in the country's nuclear development would occur.

"We have made the necessary arrangements and preparations, and are assessing the damages," Eslami said, adding that plans are in place to prevent any disruption in nuclear production and services.

On the social media platform X, Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, echoed that defiance.

"Even if nuclear sites are destroyed, the game isn't over," he wrote. "Enriched materials, indigenous knowledge and political will remain."