US intelligence says Iran nuclear sites not destroyed in strikes: reports
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The news: A preliminary classified US report says the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites sealed off the entrances to two facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings, setting back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months.
Reports from CNN and The New York times citing a Defense Intelligence Agency report, say it estimates the delay was less than six months, and much of Iran’s enriched uranium was moved before the strikes.
The context: The report’s findings suggest President Donald Trump’s statement that Iran’s nuclear facilities were “obliterated” was overstated, at least based on the initial damage assessment.
Gen Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been more careful in describing the attacks, saying they were designed to “severely degrade” Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and said final damage assessments were still pending.
What they said: The White House said the assessment was “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 spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the Times in a statement.
“Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
The NYT also said Israeli defence officials had also said they had evidence the underground facilities at the Fordow enrichment plant were not destroyed.
The sources: CNN, The New York Times
