US Strikes Only Set Back Iran's Nuclear Program by Months

A new U.S. intelligence report found that Iran's nuclear program has been set back only a few months after a U.S. strike, contradicting statements from President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the status of Iran's nuclear facilities.

The report issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on Monday found that while the Saturday strikes at the Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites did significant damage, they were not totally destroyed. According to two people familiar with the early assessment, the strikes moved some of Iran's highly enriched uranium out of multiple sites before the attacks, which survived.

The report also found that Iran's centrifuges are largely intact, and at least some of the underground infrastructure at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant was not destroyed. The person who spoke to The Associated Press said previous assessments had warned of this outcome at Fordo.

The White House strongly pushed back on the assessment, calling it "flat-out wrong." In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "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."

Trump has said in comments and posts on social media that the strikes left the sites in Iran "totally destroyed" and that Iran will never rebuild its nuclear facilities.

“For dozens of years I promised you that Iran would not have nuclear weapons and indeed ... we brought to ruin Iran's nuclear program.”

This was said by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised statement on Tuesday, thanking Trump for his support.

The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the DIA assessment. The intelligence assessment was first reported by CNN on Tuesday.