CIA Director John Ratcliffe mentioned Wednesday that Iran’s nuclear program “has been severely broken” by latest strikes on its key enrichment amenities, and pushed again on reporting about an preliminary U.S. intelligence report that implies in any other case.
Ratcliffe’s assertion doesn’t particularly point out U.S. bombs when he says that “latest, focused strikes” destroyed the Iranian targets, so it was unclear if was additionally together with the affect of per week of strikes by Israel’s navy.
He cited “a physique of credible intelligence,” together with “new intelligence from an traditionally dependable and correct supply/technique” as components within the spy company’s evaluation that “a number of key Iranian nuclear amenities have been destroyed and must be rebuilt over the course of years.”
The assertion got here hours after President Donald Trump doubled down on his administration’s declare that U.S. bomb strikes over the weekend “completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
Ratcliffe delivered his assertion by way of social media, the place he wrote that the CIA evaluation “contradicts illegally sourced public reporting relating to the destruction of key Iranian nuclear amenities.”
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of nationwide intelligence, wrote on X later Wednesday that “new intelligence” confirms Trump’s declare that “Iran’s nuclear amenities have been destroyed.”
“If the Iranians selected to rebuild, they must rebuild all three amenities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) totally, which might possible take years to do,” wrote Gabbard.
She additionally accused “the propaganda media” of distorting “illegally leaked categorised intelligence assessments” with the intention to “attempt to undermine President Trump’s decisive management.”
The statements from Ratcliffe and Gabbard have been the newest strikes within the Trump administration’s full-bore effort to undermine any reporting that doesn’t assist the president’s description of what the U.S. navy achieved within the Center East.
Late Wednesday, Trump introduced that Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth and different navy officers will maintain a information convention Thursday morning at 8 a.m. ET, “with the intention to struggle for the Dignity of our Nice American Pilots.”
Talking at a NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, earlier Wednesday, Trump aggressively lashed out at journalists who first reported on the Protection Intelligence Company’s preliminary evaluation that American strikes had not fully destroyed their targets.
That evaluation discovered that the bombings possible set Iran’s nuclear program again by just a few months, however not by years.
The report itself has not been made public. However it was described to journalists by individuals aware of it, together with NBC Information. The evaluation was first reported Tuesday afternoon by CNN.
“The report mentioned what it mentioned, and it was tremendous,” Trump instructed reporters at The Hague, after defending his declare that Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been “obliterated” by U.S. strikes.
The injury to Iranian websites “was extreme, they suppose, however they’d no concept. They should not have issued a report till they did,” Trump mentioned.
The president additionally instructed that the info which knowledgeable the DIA evaluation had been inadequate.
“They did a report, nevertheless it was like, if you happen to have a look at the dates, it is only a few days after, so that they did not see” the websites, Trump mentioned.
“The report was not an entire report,” he added.
The Pentagon has launched a “leak investigation” with the FBI, Hegseth mentioned Wednesday. He additionally famous that the report was preliminary and had been labeled “low confidence.”
Talking alongside Trump on the NATO information convention, Hegseth criticized “pretend information” and defended the strikes.
U.S. Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks between U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, throughout a press convention at a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025.
Yves Herman | Reuters
“If you wish to make an evaluation of what occurred at Fordo, you higher get an enormous shovel and go actually deep, as a result of Iran’s nuclear program is obliterated,” he mentioned.
The White Home additionally despatched reporters a screenshot of an announcement from Israel’s Atomic Vitality Fee, declaring that the U.S. strike on Fordo “destroyed the positioning’s important infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.”
Again in Washington, Ratcliffe, Gabbard and different high officers, together with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers Dan Caine and deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, had been scheduled to take part in categorised briefings Tuesday for Congress, NBC reported.
However that very same morning, each briefings have been abruptly postponed. The Senate briefing was rescheduled for Thursday, and Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., mentioned his chamber’s briefing will probably be held Friday.
However Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., mentioned Wednesday that the lineup of individuals briefing the senators had been modified on the final minute.
Now solely Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are slated to transient senators on Thursday, he mentioned.
“Sending intelligence officers to briefings in Congress is a protracted standing bipartisan observe,” Schumer mentioned on the Senate ground.
If Hegseth and Rubio are “the one ones in attendance, they may solely parrot regardless of the president needs them to say,” he mentioned.
“Congress is entitled, because the representatives of the American individuals, to listen to from the administration about issues of nationwide intelligence and nationwide safety,” mentioned Schumer.
