“FAKE NEWS”: Trump insists Iran nuclear sites “completely destroyed”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday rebuffed US media reports of intel finding the US strikes on Iran only set back Tehran's nuclear program by a few months.

"THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!" the president posted on Truth Social.

A recent report by CNN, citing an early assessment from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), has cast doubt on the extent of damage inflicted on Iran's nuclear facilities by recent US strikes.

The report suggests that while significant surface infrastructure was hit, key components of Iran's nuclear program, particularly its deeply buried centrifuges and enriched uranium stockpiles, remain largely intact, potentially setting back Tehran's nuclear ambitions by only a few months.

This assessment directly contradicts strong claims by the White House and President Donald Trump, who declared the facilities to be "completely and totally obliterated."

According to CNN's report, based on information from multiple sources familiar with the DIA findings, the US strikes, which y involved the deployment of 30,000-pound "bunker buster" bombs, primarily affected above-ground structures at sites such as Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

The critical underground facilities, where much of Iran's sensitive nuclear work is conducted, are believed to have largely withstood the attacks.

One source quoted by CNN stated that the US "set them back maybe a few months, tops."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt vehemently dismissed the report, calling it "flat-out wrong" and asserting that the leaking of the alleged assessment was 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."

Leavitt said that "everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration."

President Trump, for his part, has continued to maintain that the strikes were an unequivocal success, stating publicly that the sites "were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed this sentiment, telling CNN, "Based on everything we have seen—and I've seen it all—our bombing campaign obliterated Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons."

However, not all US officials and experts appear to share the administration's absolute certainty.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine stated it was "way too early" to determine the full extent of Iran's remaining nuclear capabilities.

Representative Michael McCaul, former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also noted that the operation was "never meant to completely destroy the nuclear facilities, but rather cause significant damage," acknowledging it would likely be a "temporary setback."

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has previously confirmed that Iran has been producing highly enriched uranium, and recent reports from the agency indicate that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile and the number of centrifuges in operation exceed limits set by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which the US withdrew.