Trump Repeats Claim Iran’s Nuclear Program Crippled for Years After Strikes

President Donald Trump is vigorously contesting a recent intelligence report that casts doubt on the success of last month’s U.S. military strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program.

In a post shared on Truth Social Saturday morning, Trump reiterated that all three of Iran’s primary nuclear facilities were “completely destroyed and/or OBLITERATED” during the strikes on June 21, as reported by The Hill.

“It would take years to restore them to operational status and, if Iran were to pursue that, they would be far better off starting afresh at three different locations, prior to the obliteration of those sites,” Trump stated.

These comments follow reports from various outlets referencing a new intelligence evaluation that asserts while Iran’s Fordow enrichment site was “mostly destroyed,” the Natanz and Isfahan facilities remain undamaged and could potentially be reactivated.

The Trump administration is not accepting this narrative.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell condemned the reports as “Fake News,” asserting that all three sites — Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — were effectively neutralized.

“The credibility of the Fake News Media is akin to the current condition of the Iranian nuclear facilities: destroyed, in ruins, and will require years to recover,” Parnell stated. “President Trump was unequivocal, and the American public comprehends: Iran’s nuclear facilities… were entirely and utterly obliterated.”

“There is no question about that,” he added.

Parnell further informed reporters that Pentagon intelligence assessments indicate Iran’s nuclear program has been delayed by “one to two years” due to the precision strikes, which utilized B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles launched from submarines.

The operation — dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer — commenced on June 21 in response to rising tensions between Iran and Israel.

The administration also criticized earlier reports from June that were based on a low-confidence DIA assessment, which suggested that the strikes merely postponed Iran’s program by a few months.

At that time, Trump indicated he would contemplate future military actions if Iran persisted in increasing its uranium enrichment, a position he reaffirmed in late June.

“If we must strike again, we will,” Trump stated. “There will be no nuclear Iran — not under my administration.”

In the meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the U.K., reached an agreement on Monday to regard the end of August as the effective deadline for finalizing a nuclear agreement with Iran, as reported by three sources who communicated with Axios.

Should negotiations falter beyond that deadline, the three European nations intend to activate the “snapback” provision, which would automatically reinstate all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran agreement, according to the report.

Reactivating the “snapback” mechanism necessitates a 30-day period, which the Europeans aim to utilize before Russia assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council in October. U.S. and European officials view the snapback as both a means to exert pressure on Tehran and a contingency plan should negotiations fail, Axios reported.

However, Iran maintains that there is no legal justification for reinstating those sanctions and has threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in response, the report further elaborated.

“The conversation between Rubio and his European counterparts was focused on aligning their positions regarding ‘snapback’ and the future of nuclear diplomacy with Iran, the sources indicated,” Axios noted. “According to two of the sources, the Europeans now intend to engage with Iran in the upcoming days and weeks, conveying the message that Iran can avert the snapback sanctions if it takes measures to reassure the international community about its nuclear program.”

Since the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, the Trump administration has aimed to revive discussions on a new nuclear agreement. Officials from France, Germany, the U.K., and Israel expressed concerns that Washington might encourage its European allies to delay the snapback sanctions, fearing that such a decision could jeopardize the ongoing negotiations, as cited by the outlet, referencing its sources.