WASHINGTON: An early intelligence assessment indicated that the US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of Tehran’s nuclear programme and likely only set it back by months, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing three people briefed on it.

While over a dozen bombs were dropped on two of the nuclear facilities, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and the Natanz enrichment complex, they did not fully eliminate the sites’ centrifuges and highly enriched uranium, CNN reported, citing people familiar with the early assessment.

The channel reported that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had not been destroyed.

It said the assessment was produced by the Defence Intelligence Agency — Pentagon’s intelligence arm — and is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by the US Central Command after the US strikes.

The report by the Defence Intelligence Agency estimated that the programme was delayed less than six months, the New York Times said in another report.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the CNN report in a social media post.

“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN,” Leavitt said on X.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2025