In a recent announcement, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard asserted that new intelligence suggests U.S. military strikes have significantly hampered Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons, countering claims that the impact would be minimal and merely a temporary setback.
“New intelligence corroborates what @POTUS has consistently communicated: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been effectively obliterated. Should the Iranians choose to reconstruct, they will need to completely rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan), a task that would likely span several years,” Gabbard wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.
However, contrasting reports from various media outlets, citing anonymous sources, indicated that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessed the strikes on these Iranian facilities weren’t as impactful as claimed. These reports suggested that Iran had preemptively relocated a significant portion of its uranium stockpile prior to the airstrikes.
Supporting Gabbard’s assertion, CIA Director John Ratcliffe also took to X, stating that “a body of credible evidence indicates” the Iranian nuclear program suffered “severe damage” from the recent U.S. strikes, which stands in stark contradiction to earlier media reports.
Both Gabbard and Ratcliffe, along with President Donald Trump, dismissed the claims made by the media outlets, labeling the DNI report as merely preliminary.
“The propaganda media have engaged in their typical tactics: selectively leaking parts of classified intelligence assessments (conveniently omitting that the assessment was made with ‘low confidence’) to undermine President Trump’s decisive leadership and the courageous servicemen and women who executed this historic mission to safeguard the American populace,” Gabbard stated on Wednesday.
The U.S. airstrikes targeted three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, following a series of escalating strikes between Iran and Israel that had raised concerns about a broader conflict.
Gabbard’s comments came shortly after Trump read a statement from Israeli officials asserting that the Iranian facilities, particularly the Fordow site, which is partially underground, had been completely destroyed by U.S. B-2 bombers.
“The devastating U.S. strike on Fordow obliterated critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility entirely inoperable,” Trump declared at a NATO conference held in the Netherlands, referencing the assessment from the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission.
The Israeli agency contends that the American strikes will significantly hinder Iran’s nuclear ambitions for years to come, with Trump drawing parallels to the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, which hastened the end of the conflict.
Trump has maintained that Iran must not possess nuclear weapons, despite the Iranian regime’s insistence that its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes.
Earlier this week, Trump announced a cease-fire agreement that would involve both Israel and Iran in a bid to halt the ongoing conflict, during which both nations had exchanged missile strikes. Israel initiated its attacks on Iran on June 13, claiming to have neutralized several of the regime’s high-ranking officials.
Previously, Trump had suggested that “regime change” in Iran could be on the table if negotiations over its nuclear program failed to materialize. However, just days later, he informed reporters that he no longer seeks a change in the Iranian government, which has maintained an autocratic theocracy since the 1979 revolution that led to a protracted hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Reuters contributed to this report.
If you found this article interesting, please consider supporting traditional journalism
Our first edition was published 25 years ago from a basement in Atlanta. Today, The Epoch Times delivers fact-based, award-winning journalism to millions of Americans.
Our journalists have faced threats, arrests, and assaults, yet our commitment to independent journalism remains unwavering. This year marks our 25th anniversary of reporting free from corporate and political influence.
That’s why we invite you to take advantage of a limited-time offer — just $1 per week — allowing you to join millions already celebrating independent news.
