Intelligence chiefs release statements supporting the President’s assertions amid scepticism from earlier assessments
Two of President Donald Trump’s senior intelligence officials have declared that fresh intelligence reveals Iranian nuclear facilities were “destroyed” during U.S. airstrikes carried out over the weekend.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard released separate statements on Wednesday, reinforcing the Trump administration’s efforts to discredit media reports suggesting the strikes had minimal impact on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Gabbard posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating: “New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed.”
Just hours later, Ratcliffe issued a written statement via social media. “A body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s nuclear program has been severely damaged” in the recent attacks, he asserted.
He elaborated: “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.” He added that the CIA continues to collect “reliably sourced information” regarding the aftermath.
Despite their emphatic declarations, neither official disclosed further specifics about the intelligence or its timeline. However, DNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman later confirmed that the intelligence referenced by Gabbard was sourced within the U.S.
One former CIA analyst, speaking under condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the topic, called it “highly unusual” for a CIA Director to issue such an analytical judgment publicly. Still, the source noted it was unlikely any classified sources or methodologies had been compromised.
Earlier this week, CNN and other outlets reported a preliminary Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment, which concluded that the airstrikes had not destroyed key elements of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The report suggested the operation may have delayed the programme by only a few months.
DIA issued a statement on Wednesday clarifying the preliminary nature of its findings: “This is a preliminary, low confidence assessment — not a final conclusion — and will continue to be refined as additional intelligence becomes available. We have still not been able to review the actual physical sites themselves, which will give us the best indication.”
The leaked DIA assessment sparked a fierce response from Trump. Taking to social media, he lambasted a CNN journalist involved in the initial report and repeated his claim that Iran’s nuclear sites had been “obliterated.”
Gabbard also condemned what she termed the “propaganda media” in her online remarks.
During a NATO summit press briefing in the Netherlands, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump’s sentiments, vigorously opposing the DIA’s findings and media coverage.
“Anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission,” Hegseth stated. He further revealed that both the Pentagon and FBI are investigating the source of the classified report’s leak.
In a show of support, Israel’s government also backed Trump’s claims. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement from Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, claiming the joint strikes had “set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years.”
However, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for the Middle East, Daniel Shapiro, advised restraint. “There’s a high likelihood that they did very significant damage to these facilities, but we should wait for the data and the actual information,” he said. He noted it typically takes several weeks to form a conclusive intelligence analysis.
Later on Wednesday, Trump suggested more details might soon emerge. On Truth Social, he announced that Hegseth would hold a “Major News Conference” Thursday morning that would be “interesting and irrefutable.”
