Trump Denies Limited Damage Claims in Leaked Iran Strike Report, Calls Bombing “Obliteration”
The Hague – June 25, 2025
US President Donald Trump has sharply dismissed a leaked intelligence assessment suggesting that last weekend’s airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites had only minimal impact, saying the attack set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities “by decades.”
Speaking from the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump described the mission as the “virtual obliteration” of Iran’s atomic infrastructure, contradicting a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report that said Iran’s program was only delayed by a few months.
What’s in the Leaked Report?
According to sources familiar with the preliminary DIA assessment—first shared with CBS News—the US strikes did not destroy Iran’s uranium stockpile or fully neutralize its underground facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Instead, the report concluded:
- Entrances to Fordo and Natanz were blocked, but underground structures remain largely intact
- Centrifuges used for uranium enrichment were not significantly damaged
- Iran had pre-emptively relocated some nuclear materials
- The strikes only delayed Tehran’s progress by a few months
The report was labeled “low confidence,” meaning the conclusions are tentative and based on limited evidence.
White House and Pentagon Push Back
President Trump was flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both of whom joined him in rejecting the leak’s validity.
“That intelligence is inconclusive at best,” Trump initially admitted. “But in reality, it was very severe. It was obliteration.”
Trump later likened the strikes to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, stating:
“That was essentially the same thing — that ended a war.”
Political Fallout Over the Lea
The White House described the leaked report as “flat-out wrong,” while Hegseth said it was “politically motivated” and that FBI investigators were working to uncover the source.
“Any assessment suggesting otherwise is being twisted by those with an agenda,” Hegseth said, insisting the munitions “landed exactly where they were supposed to.”
Rubio called the leakers “professional stabbers” and suggested the media had distorted the conclusions.
Damage Evidence Still Emerging
The US military used advanced bunker-buster munitions, possibly including the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), designed to hit hardened underground targets.
While satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed crater clusters and widespread ash over the Fordo site, it remains unclear how much damage was done to deeper subterranean structures.
“It will take time to evaluate the full impact,” said Gen. Dan Caine, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who also described the strikes as causing “extremely severe damage.”
Iran, for its part, claimed that the affected sites were evacuated prior to the strike, with sensitive material removed, minimizing any long-term impact.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70NgaziutAA
