Early US intelligence suggests military strikes failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities: CNN

CAIRO – 25 June 2025: A preliminary assessment from US intelligence indicate that the US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last Sunday did not eliminate the fundamental components of the country’s nuclear program and may have only postponed its progress by a few months.

This information, reported by CNN, comes from seven sources familiar with the assessment.

The evaluation, produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), is based on a battle damage assessment carried out by US Central Command following the strikes, said one of the sources.

The analysis of the damage and its implications for Iran's nuclear ambitions is still ongoing and may evolve as new intelligence emerges.

US President Donald Trump dubbed the strike “very successful,” claiming that key enrichment facilities there were “totally and completely obliterated.”

The US operation, dubbed 'Operation Midnight Hammer,' utilized several bunker buster bombs, seven stealthy B-2 bombers, and Tomahawk cruise missiles fired by a submarine, according to reports, to target the deeply-buried nuclear facilities in Iran.

While Trump asserts that the extent of damage at the Iranian nuclear sites is “monumental,” however the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said the agency is still unable to assess the damage.

Trump on his Truth Social has slammed the reports of CNN and the New York Times regarding the matter, asserting that they “have teamed up in an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history.”

Sources close to the assessment indicated that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium remained intact, with one source stating that the centrifuges were mostly undamaged, according to CNN.

Another source mentioned that enriched uranium had been relocated from the facilities before the US strikes occurred.

The US strikes came amidst a war between Israel and Iran, which culminated in a ceasefire announced by Trump early on Tuesday after Tehran launched a limited retaliatory strike on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

Tel Aviv initiated the war on 13 June, bombing nuclear and military sites in Iran and assassinating key military officials and senior nuclear scientists.