Intelligence Agencies Race to Evaluate Iran's Nuclear Program
The Pentagon's top leaders held a news conference today to celebrate the U.S. bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, said it took 15 years of planning to execute the strikes, which were carried out by pilots in seven B-2 bombers that launched 30,000-pound weapons down Iran's ventilation shafts.
When asked whether the military believed that the nuclear sites had been obliterated, as President Trump has repeatedly claimed, Caine said he would leave that to the intelligence community. Standing beside Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized that the initial assessment from his department's intelligence agency, which suggested that Iran's program was set back only a few months, was a 'low confidence' report.
Hegseth instead highlighted comments from the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, who said that the centrifuges at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant in Iran are 'no longer operational.'
In a video message that appeared to be his first public statement since the strikes, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, congratulated Iranians for what he called a victory over Israel and the U.S. Khamenei, 86, had not been heard from publicly in a week, raising questions about his health and whereabouts.
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Fox News
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New satellite imagery shows ongoing activity at Iran's Fordow nuclear complex after US airstrikes
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CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Netanyahu says ‘opportunities have opened up' to free Gaza hostages following Iran operation
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CNN
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