The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Iranian communication in Washington (Reuters) has downplayed the extent of damage caused by the U.S. to Iran’s nuclear program.
A source who declined to be named confirmed the claim to Reuters, but said there were serious questions about whether Iranian officials were real and described the intercept as an unreliable indicator.
However, the Post’s report is up-to-date to raise questions about the extent of damage to Iran’s nuclear program. Preliminary assessments by defense intelligence agencies leaked the strike and could withdraw Iran in just a few months.
President Donald Trump said the strike “completely and completely eliminated” Iran’s nuclear program, but U.S. officials acknowledged that damage caused by the U.S. military strike last weekend will take time to conduct a full assessment.
The White House rejected the Post’s report.
“Iranian officials who did not want to be named know what was happening under the ruins of hundreds of feet. Their nuclear weapons program is over,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in the Post.
Trump reiterated his confidence in the strike destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities in an interview aired on Sunday on Fox News. “It was eliminated like never before,” he said in his “Sunday Morning Future with Maria Bartiromo” plan.
(Reported by Phil Stewart and Katharine Jackson; Editor of Chris Reese)
