CIA says Iran’s nuclear program ‘severely damaged’ by U.S. strikes

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Wednesday credible quality indicated that Iran’s atomic programme was “severely damaged” successful recent U.S. airstrikes and that respective cardinal sites were “destroyed.”

A leaked Defense Intelligence Agency archetypal appraisal Tuesday recovered that the U.S. bombing of 3 Iranian atomic sites whitethorn person had a much constricted interaction than President Donald Trump stated that the Iranian atomic programme whitethorn person been acceptable backmost by lone respective months.

The precise harm inflicted connected Iran’s atomic facilities and the viability of its broader programme person go politically charged issues, with Trump and his deputies denouncing the leak of the DIA study and the quality outlets that reported it. Democratic lawmakers person accused the White House of perchance overstating the effect of the strikes.

Ratcliffe said connected societal media that the CIA’s findings were based connected “credible intelligence” and that they contradicted what helium called “illegally sourced nationalist reporting regarding the demolition of cardinal Iranian atomic facilities.”

Ratcliffe cited caller quality “from an historically reliable and close source/method that respective cardinal Iranian atomic facilities were destroyed and would person to beryllium rebuilt implicit the people of years.”

Tulsi Gabbard, the manager of nationalist intelligence, offered a akin assessment earlier successful the day.

Arms power experts and erstwhile quality officials accidental Iran could revive its atomic programme adjacent without the 3 atomic sites that were targeted if it managed to safeguard a capable proviso of highly enriched uranium and precocious centrifuges.

The caput of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday successful Vienna that it was imaginable Iran inactive had a stockpile of highly enriched uranium contempt a 12-day Israeli aerial run and the U.S. aerial raids implicit the weekend. Tehran whitethorn person moved the uranium soon aft the archetypal bombing raids by Israel, Grossi said.

Before Ratcliffe released his statement, Trump dismissed the DIA appraisal arsenic inconclusive and premature and said repeatedly that Iran’s atomic sites and atomic programme had been “obliterated.”

The DIA labeled its archetypal appraisal arsenic being of “low confidence,” according to 3 sources with cognition of the matter.

Intelligence analysts typically contiguous their findings with varying levels of confidence, depending connected the prime and credibility of the accusation available.

The archetypal DIA appraisal was based connected findings from Sunday night, astir 24 hours aft the U.S. bombing raid against 3 Iranian atomic facilities, 1 of the sources said.

A afloat conflict harm appraisal is inactive underway, the study besides said, and it volition instrumentality days to weeks to complete, according to 1 of the sources.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters astatine the NATO acme successful the Netherlands that the DIA appraisal was marked arsenic being of “low confidence" because the grounds of what was bombed “is buried nether a mountain, devastated and obliterated.”

NBC News reported Tuesday that the archetypal appraisal recovered that the strikes had astir apt acceptable backmost Iran’s atomic programme by astir 3 to six months but did not definitively destruct Iran’s atomic programme arsenic Trump has asserted.

Initial quality reporting does not bespeak that each of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium has been destroyed oregon accounted for, and determination are inactive questions astir Iran’s precocious centrifuges, which were not recovered astatine the atomic sites bombed by U.S. aircraft, NBC News besides reported Tuesday.

The Israeli Atomic Energy Commission said Wednesday that the U.S. bombing had rendered the Fordo underground enrichment tract “inoperable.”

“We measure that the American strikes connected Iran’s atomic facilities, combined with Israeli strikes connected different elements of Iran’s subject atomic program, has acceptable backmost Iran’s quality to make atomic weapons by galore years,” the committee said successful a statement.

It added that the “achievement tin proceed indefinitely if Iran does not get entree to atomic material.”