Hi, so let’s talk about what happened with the recent US military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. All this hullabaloo, especially from senior US officials, but when you listen to American intelligence, the facts are not so cut and dry.
What the attacks were supposed to achieve
Over the weekend, the US bombed Iran’s three nuclear sites with extreme violence. President Trump and his government called the operation a monumental success. Trump went so far as to state the airstrikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
But today, preliminary indications from US intelligence say an entirely different story.
What US intelligence found
According to seven sources that are familiar with a classified report, the punch may not be so huge as everyone was led to think. This was issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency (or DIA), the Pentagon agency responsible for analyzing global threats.
This is what they found:
- Iran’s nuclear program is still intact.
- The sensitive content of the program, such as the equipment to make enriched uranium (centrifuges), is largely still intact.
- Iran’s stockpile of uranium material that can be used to build nuclear weapons was not destroyed.
- The enriched uranium could have been smuggled out of the buildings to be used before the attacks.
A top official estimated the attack had delayed Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months.
What the white house says
The White House is not fond of the report. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt labeled it “flat-out wrong” and accused someone of leaking it, as they wanted to portray Trump negatively. She is defending the strikes and said pilots conducted a perfect mission.
Trump also reacted online. On Twitter, he referred to the attacks as “one of the most successful military strikes in history” and wrote that “nuclear facilities are now destroyed.”
So, who’s right?
It’s still too early to say for sure right now. US military officials report the mission was progressing on schedule. But intelligence analysts continue to get more intelligence coming from inside Iran.
Also keep in mind that the Defense Intelligence Agency report probably does not represent other intelligence agencies’ opinions. Those other estimates have yet to emerge.
So while the strike was massive and showy-looking, it’s not clear it ended Iran’s nuclear program. It might have caused some damage and added some delays—but not complete destruction.
Final thought
Sometimes what is reported in the media a while after an attack isn’t the whole story. Intelligence takes time. And now the experts closest to the facts are saying: Iran’s nuclear program is healthy and thriving — temporarily sidetracked.
