‘Credible intelligence' of severe damage to Iran's nuclear sites: CIA
Washington: The CIA says there is credible intelligence that Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged by US bombing, citing new information from reliable sources, as US President Donald Trump stepped up his attacks on reporters who have queried the extent of the destruction.
It came as the Trump administration provided slightly more details about the damage it claims was done, saying a uranium conversion facility at Isfahan in central Iran had been 'wiped out'.
Trump said the US believed Iran had been unable to move out uranium stockpiles and other equipment before the attack.
The administration also moved to dampen scepticism about the efficacy of the strikes by scheduling a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday morning (10pm Thursday AEST) that Trump said would provide 'irrefutable' evidence of the mission's success, as well as a private briefing for members of Congress.
Trump again dismissed a preliminary report from the Defence Intelligence Agency, an arm of the Pentagon, which said it was plausible the sites hit by the US were only partially damaged.
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'Since then, we've collected additional intelligence. We've also spoken to people who've seen the site, and the site is obliterated. And we think everything nuclear is down there, they didn't take it out,' he told a news conference after the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
'We think we hit them so hard and so fast, they didn't get to move [the material]. It's very, very heavy, it's very, very hard to move. They were way down, they were literally 30 to 35 storeys down underground.
'We think it's covered with granite, concrete and steel.'
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