An initial classified assessment by the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) has found that recent strikes ordered by President Donald Trump on Iran’s nuclear facilities did not destroy two key sites and are likely to have delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions by only a few months.
The preliminary findings, shared by two individuals familiar with the report, suggest that Iran’s nuclear programme remains largely intact, despite Trump’s public declaration that the enrichment sites were “completely obliterated.”
According to the DIA report, based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command, critical infrastructure, including centrifuges, could be operational again within months. The agency also found that much of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile had been moved ahead of the strikes, possibly to undisclosed underground sites.
The report contradicts Trump’s televised address following the operation last Saturday, in which he claimed the US had destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. “The strikes were a spectacular military success,” he said. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely obliterated.”
However, sources familiar with the intelligence warn that Fordow, the most fortified of the sites, was not fully destroyed. The facility, built under up to 90 metres of bedrock in the Zagros mountains, has long been considered virtually impervious to conventional weapons.
Iran nuclear site completely destroyed
In an apparent response to media coverage of the DIA report, Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday evening, posting in capital letters: “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!” The White House echoed this sentiment, dismissing the assessment and accusing the press of trying to undermine the military.
“This alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission,” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Nonetheless, Vice President JD Vance acknowledged gaps in US intelligence, stating on Sunday that Washington does not currently know the location of Iran’s enriched uranium. “We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel,” he said.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed on Monday that the agency could no longer account for Iran’s 400kg stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity, just short of weapons-grade.
The Guardian previously revealed that senior Pentagon officials had been briefed in January, at the start of Trump’s second term, that the GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs intended for Fordow were unlikely to fully destroy the site. The Defence Threat Reduction Agency reportedly advised that only a tactical nuclear weapon would be sufficient to eliminate the deeply buried facility.
The US military operation involved B-2 bombers dropping 12 GBU-57 bombs on Fordow and two on Natanz, while a Navy submarine launched approximately 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Isfahan.
At a Sunday press conference, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated Trump’s claim that the sites were “obliterated.” However, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an overseer of the operation, offered a more cautious assessment, saying the facilities had suffered “severe damage and destruction” but that the final analysis was still pending.
