US Reports Airstrikes Unlikely to Eliminate Iran's Nuclear Sites

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The initial assessment from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) indicates that the attack conducted by the U.S. Central Command did not destroy the main components of Iran's nuclear program, as reported by CNN on Tuesday, citing Anadolu.

Based on the battle damage assessment carried out by the U.S. Central Command after the early Sunday morning attack, the assessment is quoted from one of the seven anonymous sources briefed on the findings.

Although the analysis is still ongoing and subject to change as more data becomes available, it contradicts U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated statements that the strikes had destroyed facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. strikes "obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons."

Trump later posted his statement on his Truth Social account.

"Based on everything we have seen — and I’ve seen it all — our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons," Trump quoted Hegseth.

Hegseth further emphasized the scale of the operation, stating, "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."

Two sources cited by CNN said that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile was not destroyed, while another source said the centrifuges used to enrich uranium remain significantly "intact."

"So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops," one source said.

The White House firmly rejected the analysis but appeared to acknowledge its existence.

"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," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

"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," Leavitt claimed.

Israel initiated airstrikes on Iran's military and nuclear facilities on June 13, targeting the same locations that the U.S. struck on Sunday.

The U.S. attacked the Fordow and Natanz facilities with 14 bunker-buster bombs weighing 30,000 pounds each, dropped from B-2 stealth bombers, said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine on Sunday.

Around 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a submarine targeted the Isfahan location, Caine added.

Trump has asserted that the locations were "totally destroyed, and everyone knows it."

"It was my great honor to Destroy All Nuclear facilities & capability, and then, STOP THE WAR! " he said on social media on Tuesday.

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