Key Points and Summary – President Donald Trump claimed his “Operation Midnight Hammer” strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
-However, a leaked preliminary US intelligence assessment reported by CNN suggests the damage was less severe, setting back Iran by only a few months.
-On Wednesday, June 25, President Trump appeared to reveal new intelligence at the NATO summit, stating that Israeli operatives entered the Fordow facility “after the hit” and confirmed its “total obliteration.”
-This contradicts an ABC News report where Israeli sources claimed the damage was assessed remotely via spies and cyber-means, not a ground incursion.
-The conflicting reports create deep uncertainty about the true success of the US strikes.
Did Trump Just Out Israeli Agents In Iran?
President Donald Trump’s claim that the Iranian Fordow uranium enrichment facility was “obliterated” has been challenged by analysts and reporters in recent days.
A CNN report published this week, citing anonymous sources familiar with an early US intelligence assessment, claimed that evidence suggests Iran’s centrifuges are largely intact, that the highly enriched uranium was not destroyed, and that the damage to all three structures – Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan – was largely restricted to above-ground structures.
The White House fought back, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt describing the report as “fake news” and claiming that leaking early information 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 echoed claims made by the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stating that the U.S. military’s Iranian targets were totally obliterated.
On Wednesday, June 25, Leavitt also revealed that the White House is aggressively working to determine who leaked classified documents to CNN, adding that whoever is responsible should “go to jail.”
While the response from the White House has been widely questioned by reporters and analysts, claims made by the president during the NATO summit in The Hague this week offer insight into why the administration is so certain that the strikes were a success.
What Trump Just Revealed
Speaking to reporters at the NATO summit on Wednesday, President Trump appeared to suggest that Israel sent operatives into Iran’s Fordo nuclear sites earlier this week to assess the damage done by U.S. strikes.
“You know they have guys that go in there after the hit, and they said it was total obliteration,” the president said.
“Israel is doing a report on it now, I understand, and I was told that they said it was total obliteration.”
The president also hinted that Iran’s enriched uranium was likely damaged in the strikes, echoing claims made by Vice President J.D. Vance on Fox News this week that he “believes” the uranium has been “buried.”
“I believe they didn’t have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast,” the president said, clearly referencing nuclear materials and equipment.
The president’s comments appear to be the first on-the-record confirmation that Israel sent operatives of somesort into the Fordow nuclear facility.
Following the strikes, however, unnamed sources told ABC News that Israel was able to determine the damage done to the facility without putting boots on the ground. According to one source, who confirmed that the strike “got the job done” and that the Fordow facility was “damaged beyond repair,” Israel reached the conclusion based on “info from spies, listening in on what the Iranian leaders themselves are saying and cyber spying capabilities.”
“You don’t have to go down into Fordo to know what happened,” the source added.
What Should We Believe?
Both President Trump’s claims and those made by unnamed sources to U.S. media are significant, regardless of who proves correct. If the president is indeed suggesting that Israel sent operatives into the facility – and if an Israeli report confirms it – it would mean Israeli agents successfully infiltrated one of Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear sites.
But if the president misunderstood or overstated the intelligence, Israel may still have achieved something remarkable: verifying the success of one of the largest-ever conventional bombings through pre-positioned spies, cyber-espionage, and intercepted Iranian communications.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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