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WASHINGTON -- A week aft President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. attack connected 3 Iranian atomic sites, the explanations and descriptions of what happened voiced by him, apical aides and aboriginal quality reports overgarment contrasting pictures of the grade of the harm to Iran's atomic program.
While the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly claimed that Iran's atomic programme has been "obliterated," preliminary assessments - including from the Pentagon's ain quality helping - painted an evolving representation arsenic the week went on.
Trump said helium ordered the onslaught connected June 21 to onslaught a uranium enrichment tract located successful 300 feet heavy successful a upland successful Fordo successful northwestern Iran, an uranium enrichment tract successful Natanz and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center pursuing reports that Iranian officials failed to comply with planetary atomic regulations.
And arsenic those aboriginal harm assessments formed uncertainty connected the grade to which Iran atomic programme was crippled, respective of Trump's apical aides and allied lawmakers besides appeared to standard backmost the stated goals of the attack.
Here are immoderate of the accounts and characterizations implicit the past week.
Officials statement ngo a success, but supply fewer details to start
On Sunday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump's connection from Saturday night, conscionable aft the strikes, that the sites had been "obliterated."
"It was wide we devastated the Iranian atomic program," helium added.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, however, declined to spell arsenic far, saying it would instrumentality much clip to measure the grade of the harm done.
Hegseth acknowledged that harm appraisal was ongoing but stuck by the statement helium and Trump were using.
"All of our precision munitions struck wherever we wanted them to onslaught and had the desired effect, which means particularly the superior people here, we judge we achieved demolition of capabilities there," helium said.
Pentagon archetypal harm study leaks
Officials and inspectors from extracurricular Iran person not been capable to summation nonstop entree to the bombed sites to marque a first-hand assessment.
Trump officials had a much nuanced instrumentality aft quality reports surfaced Tuesday astir an archetypal Defense Intelligence Agency appraisal that said the onslaught acceptable backmost Iran's atomic programme lone by months.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the leaks of the military's study but did not spell arsenic acold arsenic to assertion that the sites were obliterated.
Instead, helium insisted that "very significant, important harm was done" to cardinal components of Iran's atomic program, "and we're conscionable learning much astir it."
At the aforesaid time, Rubio provided much details astir the attack, including that the bunker-buster bombs were dropped connected ventilation shafts starring heavy wrong Fordo's heavy fortified installation -- buried, officials and experts said, 200 to 300 feet wrong a mountain.
He yet acknowledged that it was hard to get a work connected harm inflicted to Fordo astatine this point, but asserted "the bottommost enactment is existent harm was done."
President Donald Trump speaks astatine the NATO acme arsenic Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth perceive successful The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
That aforesaid day, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed successful a connection that the 3 facilities were destroyed.
The manager wide of the U.N.'s atomic oversight agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday that helium believed immoderate of Iran's enriched uranium had been moved from the sites earlier the attacks.
Trump refuted that analysis.
"It would person taken 2 weeks, maybe. But it's precise hard to region that benignant of material, precise hard and precise dangerous. Plus, they knew we were coming, and if they cognize we're coming, they're not going to beryllium down there," helium said Wednesday.
Trump reiterated that the sites and the uranium were buried nether rubble and inaccessible, adding that trucks seen successful outer images astatine the works earlier the onslaught -- which immoderate speculated could person been utilized to determination the atomic worldly -- were operation vehicles being utilized to screen the ventilation shaft openings with protective concrete.
According to the 2 radical acquainted with the DIA's classified report, the bombing sealed disconnected the entrances to 2 of the 3 atomic sites targeted successful the onslaught but astir of the harm was done to structures supra ground, leaving the little structures intact.
The appraisal besides recovered that astatine slightest immoderate enriched uranium remained - perchance moved from the atomic sites up of the blasts.
The adjacent day, connected Thursday, Hegseth held a quality league wherever helium slammed the quality media implicit reporting but did not marque the aforesaid appraisal connected the atomic materials.
Asked doubly during the briefing if helium could beryllium much definitive astir whether the enriched uranium was moved earlier the attack, Hegseth said the Pentagon was "watching each aspect."
At that aforesaid Thursday briefing, Caine noted it's not his occupation to measure the damage, saying, "We don't people our ain homework."
Facility demolition downplayed by officials, ceasefire emphasized
Hegseth besides highlighted what appeared to beryllium a antithetic extremity of the mission, arguing the onslaught had succeeded due to the fact that it led to stopping the warring betwixt Iran and Israel - alternatively than the facilities' demolition due to the fact that it destroyed Iran's atomic program.
"We got that peace, that ceasefire, that enactment due to the fact that of strength, due to the fact that of [Trump's] willingness to usage American subject mightiness that nary 1 other connected the satellite tin bash with the benignant of planners and operators that the president conscionable laid out," helium said.
Then, connected Friday, Trump echoed that sentiment.
"They enactment retired that occurrence erstwhile that happened, erstwhile those bombs got dropped out, that warfare was over," helium said.
Still, the president claimed again that the sites were obliterated during a quality conference.
"We finished them off," helium said, adding, "I don't judge that they're going to spell backmost into atomic anytime soon."
Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian overseas curate said connected Iranian State TV Thursday, however, the facilities were not destroyed and his state volition person leverage successful negotiations.
The destiny of the enriched uranium
On Capitol Hill connected Thursday, aft medication officials gave lawmakers a classified briefing connected the strikes, Republican lawmakers acknowledged that the U.S. strikes whitethorn not person destroyed Iran's cache of enriched uranium. But they said that wasn't portion of the mission.
"The intent of the ngo was to destruct definite peculiar aspects of their atomic program. Those were eliminated. To get escaped of the atomic worldly was not portion of the mission," Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told CNN.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the "program was obliterated astatine those 3 sites," but added, "I don't cognize wherever the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists. But it wasn't portion of the targets there."
