Latest news with #ErikKurilla
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Devastating Intel Leak Obliterates Trump's Iran Bombing Claims
Two of the three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites that the United States bombed in June could be operational again within a few months. Despite President Donald Trump's repeated insistence that the strikes had 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program, the facilities in Natanz and Isfahan could resume nuclear enrichment in the next several months, sources told NBC News. Only the nuclear facility in Fordow was mostly destroyed, setting back work by as much as two years, according to NBC. Officials knew even before the strikes that the structures at Natanz and Isfahan were buried so deeply they were probably beyond the reach of even the massive 'bunker buster' bomb capable of penetrating Fordow's underground facilities, NBC reported. The U.S. dropped the 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker busters at Fordow and Natanz, but not at Isfahan, where officials relied on Tomahawk missiles to destroy surface targets. In order to 'truly decimate' Iran's nuclear capabilities, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, who heads U.S. Central Command, came up with an alternative plan that would have involved repeatedly hitting six sites, sources told NBC. Trump decided not to greenlight the more extensive campaign, which would have lasted for several weeks and could have resulted in more deaths on both sides. The 'all-in' plan would have required targeting more of Iran's air defense and ballistic missile systems, killing more Iranians and opening up Americans in Iraq and Syria to a greater threat of retaliation from Iran, according to NBC. After being briefed on the plan, Trump—who campaigned on a promise to end foreign wars, not start them—decided to go with the more limited option in part because he was wary of involving the U.S. in a protracted military campaign overseas, sources said. He has since claimed that Operation Midnight Hammer, as the strikes were called, accomplished in a single night what U.S. Central Command predicted would take weeks to achieve. 'We destroyed the nuclear,' Trump insisted in June. 'Iran will not have nuclear. We blew it up. It's blown up to kingdom come.' His comments came a day after a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment from the Pentagon found that the bombings had sealed off the entrances to two of the enrichment facilities but had not collapsed the underground buildings. The report also suggested that much of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was moved before the strikes—a concern the United Nations' nuclear watchdog also expressed. The latest intelligence assessment found more damage than the original report, according to NBC, but not the total annihilation that the Trump administration has been claiming. The intelligence-gathering process is expected to continue for months, with assessments likely to change over time. 'As the president has said and experts have verified, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities,' White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told NBC in a statement. 'America and the world are safer thanks to his decisive action.' Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell also told NBC that all three of the bombed nuclear sites were 'completely and totally obliterated' and called reports to the contrary 'fake news.' The Daily Beast has also reached out for comment. Iran has said its nuclear program is purely for peaceful, civilian purposes, but it was enriching uranium at levels far above those required for domestic power generation. Still, investigators have not found evidence that the country was on the verge of creating a nuclear bomb when Trump authorized the strikes. Late last month, Trump said he would 'absolutely' and 'without question' consider bombing Iran if reports suggested it could enrich uranium again.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Insider Reveals ‘Nobody' Is Talking to Hegseth as Iran Crisis Spirals
Donald Trump is sidestepping his own defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, while seeking advice on whether to launch a military strike against Iran, according to a report. An unnamed U.S. official told The Washington Post that the president is instead turning to a couple of four-star generals for guidance on whether to join Israel in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities, with the head of the Pentagon being largely left out. 'Nobody is talking to Hegseth,' the official said. 'There is no interface operationally between Hegseth and the White House at all.' Speculation is mounting that Trump may be willing to start a war with Iran to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Trump has already signed off on attack plans but has not yet given the final go-ahead to execute them, CBS News reported. When asked if the U.S. was getting closer to striking Iran's nuclear facilities at the White House on Wednesday, Trump less than helpfully replied: 'I may do it. I may not do it.' Hegseth, a former Fox News host whose lack of military experience raised eyebrows when he was picked to lead the Pentagon, does not appear to be convincing Trump to make a decision one way or the other. Instead, the president is leaning more heavily on top military brass like four-star General Erik Kurilla, nicknamed 'The Gorilla,' who leads U.S. Central Command and oversees operations in the Middle East, according to the Post. Also advising Trump is General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation's highest-ranking military officer. Both generals are said to be providing Trump their input on Iran, while Hegseth and his team remain largely out of the loop. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the claims that Hegseth has been frozen out are 'totally false.' 'Secretary Hegseth and the entire national security team are doing a great job advancing the President's foreign policy goals, and they are consistently keeping him apprised on updates in the Middle East,' Kelly told The Daily Beast. A source also told the Daily Beast that Hegseth has been present for every national security briefing surrounding Iran, and that Trump 'cares deeply about his point of view.' A similar denial was issued by Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell. 'The Secretary is speaking with the President multiple times a day and has been with the President in the Situation Room this week,' Parnell told The Washington Post. 'Secretary Hegseth is providing the leadership the Department of Defense and our Armed Forces need, and he will continue to work diligently in support of President Trump's peace-through-strength agenda.' Hegseth isn't the only senior official reported to have been snubbed by Trump during the Iran crisis. Trump has taken issue with Tulsi Gabbard, his director of national intelligence, over several controversies relating to her and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, according to the Post. A video she posted on social media on June 10, in which she spoke out against 'political elite warmongers,' was said to have angered Trump, with him later confronting her in front of others at the White House by saying: 'I saw the video, and I didn't like it,' a source told the Post. A spokesperson disputed that she is not fully engaged in advising Trump, with an ODNI press secretary telling the Post that Gabbard 'remains focused on her mission: providing accurate and actionable intelligence to the President, cleaning up the Deep State, and keeping the American people safe, secure, and free.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Chickened Out on Plan to ‘Truly Decimate' Iran's Nuke Sites
President Donald Trump passed on a chance to launch a sustained strike on Iran that could have fully dismantled the country's nuclear program. Months in the making, the plan was crafted by the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Erik Kurilla, a four-star general nicknamed 'the Gorilla' and one of the few voices on the Middle East that Trump actually listens to, NBC News reported. Instead of the one-night strike on three facilities, Kurilla proposed hammering six critical sites repeatedly over several weeks, which would 'truly decimate' Iran's nuclear capabilities, unnamed officials told NBC News. Trump was briefed on the more aggressive plan but ultimately rejected it because he didn't want to risk dragging the U.S. into another long foreign war given that he has touted himself as the 'president of peace' and pledged to rein in America's foreign entanglements. Trump also reportedly worried that a drawn-out missile campaign could rack up heavy casualties on both sides of the conflict. 'We were willing to go all the way in our options, but the president did not want to,' a source told NBC. Instead, Trump greenlit Operation Midnight Hammer, carried out on June 22, which targeted three nuclear sites in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz. Officials believe the attack severely damaged the Fordow enrichment facility, setting Iran's nuclear capabilities at the site back by as much as two years. But the damage at Isfahan and Natanz was far less extensive; Iran could have those sites back up and running within months, sources told NBC. Trump has frequently overstated the success of the military operation even after a preliminary report from the Pentagon showed the attacks did not fully destroy all three of the targeted nuclear facilities. 'We destroyed the nuclear,' Trump said in June. 'Iran will not have nuclear. We blew it up. It's blown up to kingdom come.' The Pentagon also seemed to walk back its earlier assessment of the damage to the facilities at Natanz and Isfahan in a statement to NBC News: 'The credibility of the Fake News Media is similar to that of the current state of the Iranian nuclear facilities: destroyed, in the dirt, and will take years to recover,' chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told NBC. 'President Trump was clear and the American people understand: Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz were completely and totally obliterated,' he added. 'There is no doubt about that.' White House spokesperson Anna Kelly further said that Operation Midnight Hammer 'totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear capabilities and that 'America and the world are safer, thanks to [Trump's] decisive action.' The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from the Daily Beast.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
US on Iran: Not Pete Hegseth, 'Gorilla' Erik Kurilla is calling the shots on Middle East crisis
Iran hawk US General Erik Kurilla is calling the shots in the matter of US's involvement in the Iran-Israel war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has taken a backseat and US Central Command chief General Erik Kurilla, an Iran Hawk who is nicknamed as "The Gorilla" is calling the shots on the Iran-Israel war, overruling all other top Pentagon officials, according to reports. Insiders said all his requests, ranging from more aircraft carriers to fighter planes in the region, have been approved. A former official told POLITICO that Hegseth gets easily swayed when a tough warfighter comes in the scene and Kurilla has been very good at getting what he wants. He is also not scared of pushing the president as his tenure is nearing an end. The Pentagon sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East this week and deployed F-22, F-35 and F-16 fighter planes. Kurilla, testifying on Capitol Hill last week, said he had prepared a 'wide range of options' for Hegseth and President Donald Trump to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Kurilla is known to be especially close to Israel, Israel's military and intelligence officials. Insiders think he had a clear idea about what the military was up to before anyone in the administration got to know anything about it. Kurilla is currently serving as the 15th commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) since April 1, 2022. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Het meest ontspannende boerderijspel van 2025. Geen installatie Taonga: la fattoria sull'isola Play Now Undo Originally from Elk River, Minnesota, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1988 with a degree in aerospace engineering and was commissioned as an infantry officer. Kurilla has an extensive military career, having participated in operations such as the U.S. invasion of Panama, the Gulf War, and deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Last year, Kurilla was under investigation for allegedly shoving a subordinate service member during a trip to the Middle East. In the past few weeks, Kurilla fought with the other Pentagon officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby who did not want to overcommit to the Middle East.
Axios
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Scoop: U.S. told Israel it won't participate in an Israeli strike on Iran
The Trump administration told the Israeli government the U.S. won't be directly involved in any Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, two U.S. sources and an Israeli source familiar with those discussions tell Axios. Why it matters: Officials in the U.S., Israel and Iran are all preparing for a scenario where U.S.-Iran nuclear talks collapse, Israel orders waves of strikes on Iran, and Iran retaliates by attacking Israel and U.S. bases in the region — possibly all within the next week or so. President Trump confirmed Thursday that Israeli strikes "might very well happen." Privately, the administration has informed Israel that would be a solo mission, not a joint operation, at least in terms of bombing and other offensive kinetic activity. The sources did not say whether the U.S. would provide assistance in terms of intelligence or logistics, such as with aerial refueling. The U.S. would almost certainly help Israel defend itself from Iranian retaliation, as it has during past Iranian attacks. Zoom in: While Israel could cause significant damage to Iran's nuclear program, an Israeli operation would be more limited than one involving U.S. participation. Israel's air force doesn't have B-2 or B-52 bombers that can carry the massive bunker buster bombs that would likely be needed to hit Iran's Fordow underground uranium enrichment facility, which is built deep inside a mountain. Israel would likely attempt to repeatedly strike the same targets over the course of multiple days in order to damage Iran's underground sites. Analysts are divided on the likelihood of success. State of play: Iran has vowed to strike U.S. targets in the region in the event of any attack on its nuclear program. The U.S. is in the process of withdrawing diplomats and military families who could be in harm's way. Driving the news: The Pentagon canceled on Thursday a planned visit to Israel this weekend by CENTCOM commander Gen. Erik Kurilla, a U.S. official said. The cancellation of the visit was another sign that the U.S. doesn't want to be seen as cooperating with an Israeli strike against Iran. The White House and the Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment. What they're saying: Trump told reporters Thursday that he doesn't want to say an Israeli strike "is imminent," but it might happen. Trump stressed he wants to avoid conflict but said that will require concessions that Iran has been unwilling to make. He added that so long as there's a chance of a deal, he doesn't want Israel to do anything to "blow it." Between the lines: Trump's remarks urging Israel not to attack while talks are taking place wasn't coordinated with the Israeli government, according to a U.S. source familiar. Israel previously assured the White House it wouldn't move unless the talks fail, as Axios reported last week. State of play: Israeli officials say the Israel Defense Forces are on high alert and preparing to strike Iran quickly if White House envoy Steve Witkoff's diplomacy fails this weekend.
