It isn’t but clear to what extent U.S. airstrikes broken Iran’s nuclear websites, however President Trump and his cupboard are adamant the nuclear program has been set again by years.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
What’s the proper phrase to explain the outcomes of a U.S. assault on Iran? President Trump has argued with a few of his personal intelligence group about that. Preliminary U.S. assessments range and solid doubt on the extent of injury to Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Here is NPR’s Arezou Rezvani.
AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE: A leaked Protection Intelligence Company evaluation says the harm to Iran’s nuclear websites was restricted, and this system was set again only a few months. However members of President Trump’s cupboard have come out one after the other and echoed the president as he continues saying the U.S. airstrikes worn out Iran’s key nuclear websites. CIA Director John Ratcliffe launched an announcement saying Iran’s program had been, quote, “severely broken,” underscoring what President Trump mentioned throughout a press convention on the NATO Summit yesterday.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was referred to as obliteration. No different army on Earth might have completed it.
REZVANI: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who accompanied Trump to the summit, was adamant concerning the destruction to Fordo, essentially the most essential enrichment facility, constructed deep inside a mountain.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARCO RUBIO: We dropped 12 of the strongest bombs on the planet proper down the outlet in two locations. Every thing beneath that mountain is in dangerous form.
REZVANI: In a lot the identical approach, Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted a message on X saying Iran’s nuclear websites had been destroyed and rebuilding would, quote, “seemingly take years,” not months, because the leaked report asserted with low confidence. Gabbard’s put up comes only a few months after she appeared earlier than the Home Intelligence Committee, delivering a really completely different message.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TULSI GABBARD: Iran isn’t constructing a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Chief Khamenei has not approved the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.
REZVANI: That evaluation is one Trump repeatedly dismissed within the days earlier than he ordered the weekend assault. Past the U.S., Israel issued its personal findings, saying the Fordo nuclear facility is now inoperable. Iran’s overseas ministry acknowledged solely that the amenities had been badly broken. Specialists say there may be one other risk – Iran might have moved its enriched uranium earlier than the airstrikes, elevating massive questions on its skill to recuperate its program if it chooses to.
Arezou Rezvani, NPR Information.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional info.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts might range. Transcript textual content could also be revised to appropriate errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its unique broadcast or publication. The authoritative document of NPR’s programming is the audio document.
