U.S. airstrikes set back Iran's nuclear program by just months, report says

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 24, 2025 6:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

A caller U.S. quality study recovered that Iran's atomic programme has been acceptable backmost by lone a fewer months aft a U.S. strike, and was not "completely and afloat obliterated" arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump has said, according to 2 radical acquainted with the aboriginal assessment.

The aboriginal quality study issued by the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) on Monday contradicts statements from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu astir the presumption of Iran's atomic facilities. The radical were not authorized to code the substance publically and spoke connected information of anonymity.

According to the people, the study recovered that portion the Saturday strikes astatine the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan atomic sites did important damage, the sites were not wholly destroyed.

The appraisal recovered that astatine slightest immoderate of Iran's highly enriched uranium was moved retired of aggregate sites earlier the strikes and survived, according to the people. It besides recovered that Iran's centrifuges are mostly intact.

At the profoundly buried Fordow uranium enrichment plant, the entranceway collapsed but the underground infrastructure was not destroyed, according to 1 of the people. The idiosyncratic besides said that erstwhile assessments had warned of this result astatine Fordow.

White House pushes back

The White House powerfully pushed backmost connected the assessment, calling it "flat-out wrong."

"The leaking of this alleged appraisal is simply a wide effort to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave combatant pilots who conducted a perfectly executed ngo to obliterate Iran's atomic program," White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said successful a statement. "Everyone knows what happens erstwhile you driblet 14 30,000-pound bombs perfectly connected their targets: full obliteration."

WATCH | NATO main reaches retired to Trump: 

Trump has said successful comments and posts connected societal media successful caller days, including Tuesday, that the strikes "totally destroyed" the sites and that Iran volition ne'er rebuild its atomic facilities.

The U.S. president has said the attacks were indispensable to forestall Iran from processing a atomic weapon. Iran denies it is seeking specified a limb and says its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes.

Netanyahu applauds 'historic' U.S. involvement

Netanyahu said successful a televised connection connected Tuesday that, "For dozens of years I promised you that Iran would not person atomic weapons and so ... we brought to ruin Iran's atomic program."

He said the U.S. joining Israel was "historic" and thanked Trump.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) declined to remark connected the DIA assessment. ODNI co-ordinates the enactment of the nation's 18 quality agencies, including the DIA, which is the quality limb of the U.S. Defence Department, liable for producing quality connected overseas militaries and the capabilities of adversaries.

The quality appraisal was archetypal reported by CNN connected Tuesday. Reuters and the New York Times besides published reports connected the DIA assessment.

Democrats person antecedently said Trump's claims that the play strikes eliminated oregon earnestly acceptable backmost Iran's atomic programme were not yet backed by evidence.

"There's zero grounds that I've seen that the atomic programme was wholly and wholly obliterated, arsenic Donald Trump has claimed," U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said connected Monday.

Classified briefings connected the substance for members of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate were cancelled connected Tuesday.

William Hague, a erstwhile U.K. overseas secretary, said careless of however overmuch harm was done by the U.S. strikes, it volition inactive beryllium an ongoing challenge to forestall Iran from processing a atomic weapon.

"In the agelong run, it's going to beryllium precise hard to halt atomic weapons proliferating by utilizing force," Hague told Times Radio. "That is going to request agreements.

"And a humiliated and defeated powerfulness successful past usually finds a mode of coming backmost again — successful this case, with a atomic limb — successful the future."