Key members of the Trump administration are denying reports that a U.S. bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear sites was ineffective.
A new report from CNN cited an internal analysis and unnamed insiders from the Pentagon’s intelligence arm, claiming that Iran’s nuclear program was set back “a few months, tops” by the bombings of three Iranian sites. The report comes after President Donald Trump claimed Iran’s nuclear ambitions were “completely obliterated” by the strike. Shortly after CNN shared the news, Iranian authorities said the “nuclear program of Iran” would “resume without interruption.”
“We are ready to restart enrichment; our program will not stop,” the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shared.
Tasked with responding to multiple sources claiming Trump’s surprise bombing run was a flop, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt called the claims lies.
“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,” Leavitt shared in a statement to CNN. “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.”
Hegseth added to the head-in-the-sand chorus.
“Based on everything we have seen, and I’ve seen it all, our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons. Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly,” he said in a statement. “The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran. So, anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission.”
The embarrassing report comes after Hegseth and Trump spent days celebrating the success of the Iranian attacks. Trump had previously justified the attacks by saying that Iran “would use” a nuclear weapon if it had access to one.
The attacks have deepened a rift between members of the Republican Party, with many isolationist members of the MAGA caucus expressing disillusionment with Trump’s decision to wade into an ongoing conflict in the Middle East. After a retaliatory strike from Iran on a U.S. base in Qatar, Iran and Israel agreed to tentative ceasefire terms on Monday.
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