US airstrikes failed to fully destroy Iran's nuclear sites, intelligence report claims; White House responds

1. US airstrikes failed to fully destroy Iran's nuclear sites, intelligence report claims; White House responds

The military strikes by the United States on three Iranian facilities earlier this week did not fully destroy them and likely set the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program back by months, an early assessment report by US intelligence said. Follow LIVE updates here.

This handout satellite photo obtained from Planet Labs PBC and dated May 20, 2025, shows a view of the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in central Iran.(AFP)

The assessment, first reported by CNN, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm.

The United States over the weekend attacked three nuclear facilities – Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan – in Iran that Israel and the United States say were being used to build an atomic bomb in secret.

US President Donald Trump had claimed that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had also said on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear ambitions “have been obliterated.”

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Two of the people familiar with the assessment of the strikes, however, told CNN that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed. One of the people said the centrifuges are largely “intact.”

“So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” the person said.

Also Read | Satellite images of US strikes in Iran undermine Trump's 'obliterated' claim

The assessment also found that at least some of Iran’s highly enriched uranium was moved out of multiple sites before the US strikes and survived, reported Reuters.

Earlier, satellite images from the nuclear sites showed significant damage, but also showed portions that seem undamaged, and uncertainty on how much the underground nuclear establishments were impacted.

The White House strongly responded to reports of the assessment, calling it “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.”