Politics
JUST IN: CNN Makes Shocking Claim About Iran Strikes, Hegseth Snaps Back
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is denying recent reports from CNN, which have claimed the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites failed to destroy the regime’s capacity to build nuclear weapons. In a thorough rebuttal, the defense secretary denied the reports and insinuated that CNN’s reporting lacks critical context.
The story, co-authored by Natasha Bertrand, who is most infamous for advancing the debunked lie that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a “Russian disinformation campaign,” claims that “early U.S. intelligence assessments” indicate that the strikes were not as effective as previously thought.
“The analysis of the damage to the sites and the impact of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear ambitions is ongoing, and could change as more intelligence becomes available. But the early findings are at odds with President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities,” CNN reported. The story cites an anonymous source familiar with the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, as well as a battle damage assessment from U.S. Central Command.
The report further claims that Iran’s uranium enrichment supply is largely intact, while the regime’s centrifuges are also reportedly operational. “So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” the anonymous source said.
While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the existence of the assessment, but pushed back on CNN’s reporting.
“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community. The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program,” she said. “Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
Israel had carried out strikes on the Natanz and Isfahan sites in the days preceding U.S. strikes on both those facilities and the heavily-fortified, underground Fordow uranium enrichment site, which was struck by bunker buster munitions from B-2 stealth bombers. Anonymous sources told CNN that the damage was largely limited to the above ground areas of the Fordow site, which was heavily damaged.
Heavy damage was reported to the site’s power infrastructure and some of the aboveground facilities used to turn uranium into metal for bomb-making, the sources added.
In a statement of his own, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insinuated that CNN’s report was missing key context. “Based on everything we have seen — and I’ve seen it all — our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons. Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly,” he said.
“The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission.“
