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The latest Iran nuclear airstrike assessment

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18.07.2025
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The Big Story

The latest Iran nuclear airstrike assessment

The Trump administration is pressing back on a new intelligence assessment that contradicts President Trump’s repeated assertions that U.S. airstrikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities last month.

© Maxar Technologies via Associated Press

Citing five current and former U.S. officials familiar with the latest assessment, NBC News reported Thursday that Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment site was mostly destroyed in the U.S. military operation, while two others — Isfahan and Natanz — may have only been set back by months and could resume operations.

The Pentagon pushed back on this report.

“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,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to The Hill’s sister network NewsNation.

"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's no doubt about that."

The White House also pushed back on the latest NBC News report.

Reports first surfaced last month, shortly after the U.S. launched its surprise attacks on Tehran’s nuclear sites, that U.S. intelligence officials at the Defense Department

© The Hill