Leaked Pentagon bombshell: US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites failed — will Trump fire Pete Hegseth?

A leaked Pentagon intelligence assessment has thrown cold water on the Trump administration’s bold claims of success in its airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and is now raising speculations about US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s future, as per a report.

Classified DIA Assessment Contradicts Donald Trump's Narrative

Despite US president Donald Trump’s and Hegseth's repeated statements that the US' June 21 strikes on Iran “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, an early assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) suggests otherwise, as reported by CNN. According to seven individuals briefed on the findings who told CNN, the strikes failed to destroy Iran’s core nuclear assets, including its stockpile of enriched uranium and the centrifuge, according to the report.

According to CNN's sources, DIA’s analysis, which is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, the US was not able destroy the core components of the Iran's nuclear program and has mostly only set it back by months, as per the report.


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Two of the people familiar with the assessment told CNN that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed, and one of the people also said the centrifuges are largely “intact,” reported CNN. While, another CNN source told the outlet that the intelligence assessed enriched uranium was moved out of the sites prior to the US strikes, as reported by CNN.

One of the people told CNN, “So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” as quoted in the report.

White House Pushes Back Against Leaked Assessment

While, the White House acknowledged the existence of the assessment, they have emphasised that they disagreed with the report, as per CNN.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN that, “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. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,” as quoted in the CNN report.

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Even the US president, who was in the Netherlands to attend this week’s NATO summit, immediately dismissed CNN’s report on his social media site, Truth Social, as he wrote, “One of the most successful military strikes in history,” adding, “The nuclear sites in Iran are completely destroyed!,” as quoted in the report.

Hegseth, who is also at the NATO summit along with Trump, said that the assessment was supposed to be “a top secret report; it was preliminary; it was low confidence” and added that there were political motives behind leaking it and that an FBI investigation was underway to identify the leaker, as quoted by CNN in the report.

Still Too Early for Full Assessment

However, CNN wrote in its report that, "It is still early for the US to have a comprehensive picture of the impact of the strikes, and none of the sources described how the DIA assessment compares to the view of other agencies in the intelligence community. The US is continuing to pick up intelligence, including from within Iran as they assess the damage."

Some Officials Say US Strikes Were Meant to Delay, Not Destroy

While, the Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who is the chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “I’ve been briefed on this plan in the past, and it was never meant to completely destroy the nuclear facilities, but rather cause significant damage,” referring to the US military plans to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, and emphasised, “But it was always known to be a temporary setback,” as quoted in the CNN report.

FAQs

Did the US airstrikes destroy Iran’s nuclear program?
No. According to a leaked Pentagon assessment, the strikes caused damage but didn’t destroy key components like uranium stockpiles or centrifuges, as per a CNN report.

What was actually destroyed in Iran after the US strike?
Mostly above-ground infrastructure at key nuclear sites, while underground assets appear largely untouched.