US strikes failed to destroy Iran's nuclear programme, only delayed it by months: Intelligence report
The intelligence report issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency contradicts statements from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the status of Iran's nuclear facilities.
The military strikes by the United States on three of the nuclear facilities in Iran did not "completely and fully obliterated" as President Donald Trump has said, and have only set Tehran's nuclear programme back a few months, an early assessment report by US intelligence said.
The intelligence report released by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm, on Monday stands in contrast to claims made by President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the condition of Iran's nuclear facilities.
On June 22, the United States launched airstrikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, which, according to both the US and Israel, were allegedly being used covertly to develop a nuclear bomb.
What report claims?
According to the people, the report found that while the strikes at the Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites did significant damage, they were not totally destroyed.
Two of the people familiar with the assessment of the strikes told CNN that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed. One of the people said the centrifuges are largely "intact."
Another source said that the intelligence assessed enriched uranium was moved out of the sites prior to the US strikes. "So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops," this person added.
White House says assessment "flat-out wrong"
The White House has strongly rejected claims that the US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities merely delayed Tehran's nuclear ambitions. In a sharply worded statement, the White House called the assessment "flat-out wrong".
"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," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
"Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration."
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