John AdoyiDespite President Donald Trump’s bold claim that the United States had “completely and fully obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, early US intelligence assessments suggest the damage was far less decisive.
According to two officials familiar with the early findings, Iran’s nuclear programme has only been set back by a few months following the US strikes on Saturday that targeted three key nuclear sites: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. The officials, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because the findings are still classified, said the strikes caused significant damage, but did not fully destroy the facilities. This contradicts public statements made by Trump, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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The airstrikes followed two weeks of escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, which began with Israel taking Iran by surprise with missile attacks that took out several Iranian top military officials. President Trump announced a ceasefire on Monday evening. Though later violated, both sides have acknowledged it, leading to what analysts described as a “fragile ceasefire.”
The early intelligence suggests that while the bombings sealed off the entrances to Fordo and Isfahan, the fortified underground structures remained intact. The Natanz facility was reportedly the most severely affected, but analysts concluded that Iran’s nuclear development has been delayed, not dismantled.
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Some Israeli officials believe Iran may have anticipated such an attack and maintained covert enrichment sites to preserve its capabilities. “There’s little doubt that Iran planned for continuity,” one Israeli defence source said.
The White House has pushed back strongly against the leaked assessment. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed it as “flat-out wrong” and accused critics of attempting to undermine the administration’s success. “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 programme,” she said. “Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
The two officials who discussed the findings emphasised that this was only an early assessment. More information is expected as both Iranian authorities and Western intelligence agencies continue evaluating the extent of the damage.
