US President Donald Trump has strongly denied the conclusions of a leaked intelligence estimate that undermines the success of recent US military attacks on Iran's nuclear sites.
The report, which was said to be from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), indicates that although the airstrikes might have stalled Iran's nuclear program temporarily, they did not cause the full destruction stated by the administration.
As per information released by CNN and The New York Times, the DIA analysis confirms that most of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was moved before the attacks, with the effect on Iran's nuclear program essentially a short-term setback.
Responding to the report, President Trump logged into Truth Social on Wednesday and criticized both media outlets while also reasserting his administration's version of events.
Fake news CNN, along with the struggling New York Times, joined forces in trying to belittle one of the greatest military strikes in history. The nuclear facilities in Iran are totally wiped out! Both the Times and CNN are being thoroughly trashed by the public," Trump tweeted.
In a Fox News interview, President's Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff called the leak of the report "treasonous," and demanded a full investigation into the leak.
"Now, of course, it goes without saying that releasing that kind of information — whatever the information, which side it comes out on — is appalling. It's treasonous," Witkoff stated. "So, it should be investigated, and whoever did it — whoever's behind it — should be held responsible. It could damage lives in the future. Leaking is an absolutely unacceptable thing."
Justifying the military action, Witkoff further stated, "We dropped 12 bunker buster bombs on Fordow. There's no question that it penetrated the canopy. and there's no question that it was OBLITERATED. So the reporting out there that somehow indicates that we did not succeed in the objective is simply entirely preposterous!"
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also responded to the report, issuing a sharp rebuke of CNN. In a statement, she called the intelligence assessment fundamentally incorrect.
"This so-called assessment is straight-out wrong and was marked 'top secret' but somehow leaked to CNN by a low-level, anonymous loser within the intelligence community," Leavitt stated. "The leaking of this so-called assessment is obviously an attempt to belittle President Trump and disparage the courageous fighter pilots who executed a flawlessly carried-out mission to destroy Iran's nuclear program. We all know what happens when you deliver fourteen 30,000-pound bombs flawlessly on their targets: complete destruction."
The government still insists that the strikes were totally successful, even as doubts rise about the level of destruction to Iran's nuclear program.
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