Initial Report On U.S. Bombing Of Iranian Nuclear Sites Contradicts Trump’s Claim That Iran’s Nuclear Program Was ‘Obliterated’

An initial classified report on the United States’ bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites stated the coordinated attack only set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months.

According to the report, the airstrikes blocked off the entrances to two of the three nuclear facilities; however, they did not entirely collapse the underground buildings. It also added that the strikes destroyed little of Iran’s nuclear program, stating that much of their stored enriched uranium was moved prior to the attack.

The report found that the three nuclear sites had suffered moderate to severe damage, contradicting President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran’s facilities had been “obliterated.”

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed a similar belief in an official statement on the strikes.

“Based on everything we have seen — and I’ve seen it all — our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons,” said Hegseth. “Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly.”

However, numerous military experts and officials believed that more than one day of airstrikes would be required to handicap Iran’s nuclear program significantly.

After a briefing on the strike to Congress was postponed, senators are now scheduled to be briefed on Thursday, and House members on Friday.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt defended the administration’s assessment of the strikes.

“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,” said Leavitt in a statement. “Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”

Israeli defense officials have stated that the underground facilities were not destroyed.

Military officials have also asserted that the strikes were not as successful as many in the administration had hoped, meaning that Iran has all the necessary tools to develop a nuclear weapon quickly.

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that this was only an initial assessment and it was “way too early” to gauge the state of Iran’s nuclear program properly.

• Share on Facebook
• Tweet
• Submit to Reddit
• Submit to Threads
• Submit to Pinterest
• Share to Pocket

Article by Kevin Maguire