Donald Trump has responded to claims that Saturday’s attacks on Iran did not succeed in dismantling its nuclear facilities.
President Trump authorized a mission targeting three Iranian nuclear sites: Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Dubbed ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’, the highly secretive operation saw the deployment of over 100 aircraft, including advanced B-2 stealth bombers.
Although Trump described the operation as ‘very successful’, alternative accounts have raised questions.
A specialist who communicated with The Independent suggested that Iran may have relocated some of its nuclear weapons from the targeted sites before the airstrikes, implying that the overall impact on its nuclear capabilities might have been minimal.
Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, who heads the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute and once served on the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB), remarked: “I understand that Fordow has a symbolic importance to people, but it is by no means the only underground facility associated with Iran’s nuclear program.”
He further noted: “Given how long it took the US to strike, it’s not clear to me that by the time it was hit, it was even the most important, because the Iranians had had time to power off centrifuges and possibly remove them.”
An initial intelligence assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency conveyed similar thoughts.
According to CNN, two insiders familiar with the report claimed that Iran’s enriched uranium reserves were not eliminated, hinting that the US might need to consider another assault on Iran in the near future to fulfill its objectives.
Trump and the White House have addressed the revelations of the reports suggesting the strike was not as effective as claimed. The president criticized the media as ‘disrespectful’, especially towards the ‘great geniuses’ piloting the aircraft, as reported by the BBC.
He also took to Truth Social to rebuke the recent reports.
“FAKE NEWS CNN, TOGETHER WITH THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES, HAVE TEAMED UP IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY,” Trump stated.
“THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! BOTH THE TIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!”
In response to CNN’s article, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commented, according to the outlet: “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.
“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.”