Washington DC [US], June 26: Former US President Donald Trump has once again asserted that American airstrikes, carried out on June 22, “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites — a claim supported by an Israeli assessment but contradicted by internal US intelligence findings.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump referenced an evaluation by the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC), which declared that the US strike on the Fordow nuclear site had “destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.”
“Israel just stated that the Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED! Thank you to our great B-2 pilots, and all others involved!” Trump wrote.
The IAEC’s assessment, released via the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, claimed that combined US and Israeli operations caused a major setback to Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme. “The devastating US strike on Fordow destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable… set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years,” the statement said.
However, these claims stand in stark contrast to recent findings reported by CNN. Citing seven sources familiar with internal assessments, CNN reported that the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) concluded the strikes caused only a temporary disruption, possibly delaying Iran’s nuclear programme by mere months, not years.
The report added that centrifuges at Iranian facilities remain largely functional, and enriched uranium stockpiles were likely moved before the strikes. US Central Command’s battle damage assessment appears to contradict both Trump’s public declarations and remarks by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who previously claimed the strikes had “completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
The heightened tensions trace back to June 13, when Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion”, a significant airstrike campaign targeting Iranian military and nuclear sites. Iran retaliated with “Operation True Promise 3”, unleashing missile and drone attacks against Israeli infrastructure.
As conflicting narratives emerge from both allies and US intelligence, the full scope and long-term impact of the June 22 strikes remain under scrutiny.