【By Observer News, Wang Kaiwen】Early this month, the US military used a massive earth-penetrating bomb to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Despite President Trump repeatedly claiming that Iran's key nuclear facilities had been "completely destroyed," this claim has been constantly challenged by external parties.

The Washington Post, citing four sources on June 29 local time, reported that according to intercepted private communications between senior Iranian officials, Iranian officials said the destructive power and scope of the US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities were less than their expectations.

These intercepted communications once again contrasted with Trump's statements and quickly led to criticism from the White House.

The Trump administration did not deny the existence of these communications but strongly opposed the judgment of Iranian officials and questioned whether they had the capability to assess the damage caused by the US to Iran's nuclear facilities.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on June 29 that The Washington Post publishing "selectively taken" leaked information was "disgraceful." "The claim that Iranian officials know what happened under thousands of tons of rubble is absurd. Their nuclear weapons program is over," she said.

US Department of Defense spokesperson Sean Parnell shared screenshots of The Washington Post's report on social media, writing: "Mainstream media are launching a 'weaponized' smear campaign against the United States and its outstanding military. These fake news media clearly know that the so-called intelligence 'assessment' is incomplete, selectively taken, or even completely false, yet they still use them, as if serving Iran's propaganda machine. This is not news reporting, but political action."

In an episode of Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" on June 29, Trump stated that the US attack on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility completely destroyed the target location. "Now there are only thousands of tons of rocks left there; the entire place was destroyed, and two other Iranian nuclear facilities were also destroyed," he said.

At around midnight on June 22 local time, the US launched an attack on three Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Analysts generally believe that due to the extremely strong firepower used by the US military, including a 30,000-pound (about 14-ton) massive earth-penetrating bomb and Tomahawk cruise missiles, these strikes severely damaged Iran's nuclear facilities. However, the extent of the damage and the time required for reconstruction have sparked intense debate.

Underground nuclear facility at Fordow after the explosion, satellite image by Maxsa Technology Company

It has been reported that although the explosions sealed the entrances to two nuclear facilities, they did not destroy the underground buildings, and Iran had already moved the enriched uranium before the US attack.

When asked about the intercepted communications, a Trump administration official said that the statements by Iranian officials were "wrong," adding, "We destroyed their metal conversion facilities. We know our weapons hit the target precisely and achieved the effect we wanted."

A US official revealed that Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Richard Grenell, told members of Congress during a classified briefing last week that several key Iranian nuclear facilities had been "completely destroyed," including the metal conversion facility, which is critical for producing core components of nuclear weapons, and that it would take years to rebuild. Grenell also said that US intelligence assessments indicated that "most" of Iran's enriched uranium "may have been buried in Isfahan and Fordow."

An senior intelligence official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told The Washington Post, "A single signal intelligence cannot reflect the full picture of the intelligence."

"A phone call between two unnamed Iranians does not equal a complete intelligence assessment, which requires integrating multiple sources and methods," the official said.

Trump was extremely angry about the external doubts about his claims regarding the bombing results. Recently, on his self-created social platform "Truth Social," he accused Democrats of leaking the information and said they should be prosecuted.

What Trump referred to was an early intelligence assessment report from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), a part of the US Department of Defense. On June 24, CNN cited a DIA report stating that the US military strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities had not destroyed the core components of Iran's nuclear program, possibly only delaying it by a few months.

Trump also questioned reports about Iran's transfer of enriched uranium. When interviewed by Fox News, he said, "I don't think they actually transferred it. It's very difficult and dangerous... They didn't know we were coming until the last minute."

The Washington Post noted that the DIA's findings were based on information obtained approximately 24 hours after the attack, and its conclusion was that some centrifuges in Iran were still intact. The Trump administration criticized some media for not pointing out that the report was of "low credibility," saying that it would take days or even weeks of data accumulation to complete a comprehensive assessment.

However, the Trump administration did not wait for the so-called "comprehensive assessment" before claiming that the Iranian nuclear program had been delayed "for years." On Friday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kahane held a joint press conference, where Esper said that Trump "led the most complex and secretive military operation in history, and it was a great success."

In the US Capitol, the division among lawmakers about the effectiveness of the attack remains.

"After listening to the briefing, I still believe we did not 'completely destroy' the program. The president said the project was destroyed, which is an intentional misrepresentation of the public. Iran still has key equipment and capabilities," said Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy.

He added, "You can't make knowledge disappear with bombs - no matter how many scientists you kill. Iran still has people who understand how to operate centrifuges. If they still have enriched uranium and usable centrifuges, the project is only delayed by a few months, not years."

Trump's ally, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said he believed the attack had set back Iran's nuclear program by several years. But he also admitted that Iran had the ability to recover.

"The real question is, have we destroyed their intent to develop nuclear weapons?" Graham said. "I don't want people to think that nothing was damaged on site. It was indeed damaged. But I also don't want people to think the problem is solved because it's far from over."

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in an interview with American CBS on June 27 that the destruction caused by the US attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities was serious but "not total," and that Iran could restart uranium enrichment within a few months.

This article is an exclusive article from Observer News. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521617927062340138/

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