 "How much damage did US strikes on Iran cause? It depends on who you ask")
Operation Midnight Hammer, as America termed its strikes on Iran’s three nuclear facilities — Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz — was a military operation of stealth and military might. But the question everyone is still asking is how much damage did the strikes inflict on Iran’s nuclear programme?
US President Donald Trump has said that the three targets hit by American strikes were “obliterated.” His defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said they were “destroyed.” The head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) they are “severely damaged”.
However, a preliminary Pentagon report states otherwise. A leaked Defense Intelligence Agency document claims the damage to one site could have been minimal and now, an initial European intelligence assessment notes that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is believed to be largely intact following US strikes on the country’s main nuclear sites.
Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that as a result of Israeli and US strikes, the agency has “seen extensive damage at several nuclear sites in Iran,” including those three. Israel claims it has set back Iran’s nuclear program by “many years.”
It seems that the strikes have led to a battle of narratives — one that Donald Trump seems is pushing to win, at any cost.
Trump and Hegseth’s claim of total destruction
Following US B-2 bombers flying into Iran and deploying bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk missiles at the three key nuclear facilities in Iran, US President Donald Trump in an address to the world said, “A short time ago the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
Hours later, as the B-2 bombers returned to US following their mission, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “The damage to the nuclear sites in Iran is said to be “monumental.” The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military. Thank you!”
The US president then reasserted his claim of obliteration writing on his social media account, “Monumental damage was done to all nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”
Trump’s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also aired similar comments when speaking about the success of the US strikes on Iran. In a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth called Operation Midnight Hammer an “overwhelming success” that “devastated the Iranian nuclear programme” and “achieved destruction of capabilities” at the Fordow nuclear site.
Only pushed back by months, claims Pentagon report
The Trump administration’s claims of total damage on Iran’s nuclear sites were, however, punctured by a leaked confidential intelligence report published by news agencies on Tuesday (June 24).
Prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) – the intelligence arm of the Pentagon — said that the strikes failed to destroy underground facilities, and set Tehran’s nuclear programme back only by a few months.
The five-page report said that before the attacks, it was estimated that if Iran rushed to assemble a nuclear weapon, it would take it about three months. However, following the strikes, this has been pushed to six months.
The DIA report also reveals that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was moved before the strikes, which destroyed little of the nuclear material. A Washington Post report citing a person who read the leaked report also concluded that some of Iran’s centrifuges, used to enrich uranium that could be used in a nuclear weapon, remain intact.
However, the White House pushed back on this report. Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, wrote on X, “This alleged ‘assessment’ is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.”
“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,” she wrote. “Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff also told Fox News that the strikes had deprived Iran of the ability to develop a weapon and called it outrageous that the US assessment was shared with reporters. “It’s treasonous so it ought to be investigated,” he said.
CIA backs Trump on US strikes on Iran
On Wednesday, amid questions of how damaging were US strikes on Iran, the CIA chief John Ratcliffe offered his analysis, which mirrored Trump’s take on the bombing. In a statement, he said that the agency had obtained “a body of credible evidence [that] indicates Iran’s nuclear programme has been severely damaged” by recent strikes.
Without providing any proof, Ratcliffe said the CIA’s evidence included “new intelligence from a historically reliable source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.”
Trump and team double down on strikes
Amid differing stances on the extent of damage caused to Iran’s nuclear sites, the Trump administration went on the offensive on Thursday, insisting the operation was a total success and berating journalists for reporting on an intelligence assessment that raised doubts.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in a news conference released video of the tests of the type of “bunker-buster” bombs that were dropped on Iranian nuclear facilities to illustrate the severity of the strikes. Hegseth also went a step forward and slammed the reporters, accusing them of distorting the leaked report.
“Because you cheer against Trump so hard — in your DNA and in your blood, cheer against Trump — because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,” Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. “You have to hope maybe they weren’t effective.”
“Whether it’s fake news CNN, MSNBC or The New York Times, there’s been fawning coverage of a preliminary assessment,” Hegseth said. “I’ve had a chance to read it. Every outlet has breathlessly reported on a preliminary assessment.”
New European assessment released
And to make matters worse for Trump and his officials, now preliminary intelligence assessments provided to European governments also indicate that Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact.
According to the assessment, the 408 kg of uranium was distributed to other locations.
But Trump has refuted this report too, writing on Truth Social, “Nothing was taken out of [the] facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!”
Iran’s assessment of the strikes
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday that damage to Iran’s nuclear sites from the 12-day war with Israel was “serious”.
“A detailed assessment of the damage is being carried out by experts from the Atomic Energy Organisation (of Iran),” he told state television.
“Now, the discussion of demanding damages and the necessity of providing them has been placed as one of the important issues on the country’s diplomatic agenda,” he added.
“These damages are serious, and expert studies and political decision-making are underway at the same time.”
With inputs from agencies
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