After initial reports suggested that the United States' attack on three Iranian nuclear facilities wasn't as successful as officials let on, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth aired his grievances at media outlets, claiming Saturday's attacks set Iran's nuclear capabilities back by years.
"President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history, and it was a resounding success resulting in a ceasefire agreement and an end to a 12-day war," he said.
An initial assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency stated that while the Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites were damaged, they were not completely destroyed.
"Since then, we've collected additional intelligence — we've also spoken to people who have seen the site, and the site, the site is obliterated," President Trump said during a press conference at the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
On Wednesday, U.S. officials claimed that they had set Iran's nuclear enrichment program back years after striking three targets.
“CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s nuclear program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes," CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday. "This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years."
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Hegseth said the initial reports were from someone who had an agenda.
"There was a great deal of irresponsible reporting based on leaks and preliminary information in low confidence. When someone leaks something, they do it with an agenda; when you leak a portion of an intelligence assessment, just a little portion that makes it seem like the strike wasn’t effective, you start a news cycle," he said.
Hegseth added that questioning the mission undermines the "success" of the pilots involved in the mission.
Iran issued its own response on Thursday, claiming victory over Israel.
"My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the U.S. regime," said Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in his first public comments since last Saturday's attack. "The U.S. regime entered the war directly because it felt that if it didn’t, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing."
