US Bombing Set Back Iran Nuclear Effort By Months, Didn't Destroy Sites: Report

Last Updated:June 25, 2025, 15:41 IST

US President Donald Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the strikes "obliterated" Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

US strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility left six craters in the ground | Reuters Image

A preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded that the US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities did not destroy the core of the Tehran’s nuclear program but just set it back by only a few months. The classified analysis- produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)- showed that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile remains undestroyed, with centrifuges largely “intact", CNN reported.

Disputed Narrative From White House

This comes as US President Donald Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the strikes “obliterated" Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The White House, while acknowledging the existence of the assessment, forcefully rejected its conclusions. White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN that the document was leaked by a “low-level loser in the intelligence community" and maintained that “everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration."

Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that the strikes were “one of the most successful military operations in history," insisting the nuclear sites were “completely destroyed."

Limited Damage Confirmed 

A source told CNN, “So the assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops" while satellite analysis reviewed by weapons expert Jeffrey Lewis confirmed the limited impact.

“The ceasefire came without either Israel or the United States being able to destroy several key underground nuclear facilities, including near Natanz, Isfahan and Parchin," Jeffrey Lewis told CNN.

Top US defense officials offered more cautious takes as Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said it was “way too early" to assess whether Iran retained nuclear capabilities.

While the Pentagon labeled the mission a success, the actual impact remains unclear- something Donald Trump himself appeared to acknowledge saying, “The intelligence was very inconclusive. It could have been very severe."

Location :

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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News world US Bombing Set Back Iran Nuclear Effort By Months, Didn't Destroy Sites: Report