US Defence Secretary Hegseth claims 'total obliteration' of Iran's nuclear sites

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed that recent US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites had "obliterated" the country’s ability to build a nuclear bomb.

Hegseth said that Sunday’s airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities were a success, following questions regarding the effectiveness of the intervention.

"Based on everything we have seen, and I’ve seen it all, our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons."

"Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target - and worked perfectly," he added. The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission."

However, a CNN report published a day earlier quoted three sources familiar with an early US intelligence assessment that appeared to contradict those claims.

The assessment, prepared by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and based on post-strike analysis by US Central Command, reportedly concluded that the strikes had not destroyed the core infrastructure of Iran’s nuclear programme and likely only delayed its progress by a few months.

According to the report, more than a dozen bombs were dropped on the Fordow and Natanz sites, but failed to completely destroy Iran's centrifuges or its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Two sources told CNN the stockpile had remained intact.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the report as inaccurate and claimed the DIA assessment was classified. Writing on X, she said: "This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but still leaked to CNN. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration."

Iran, meanwhile, condemned the strikes but also downplayed their impact. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said the attacks on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan were carried out in the days following what it called "barbaric" Israeli aggression. It described the strikes as "a brutal action that contravenes international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".

An official in Qom province told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Fordow facility had sustained damage in the US strike, but there was no nuclear leak.

US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel early Tuesday, bringing an end to the 12-day war. Posting on Truth Social, he said: "This is a war that could have lasted for years and devastated the entire Middle East, but it didn’t - and it never will."

He praised both sides for their "patience, courage, and intelligence" and signed off with: "Blessings to Israel, to Iran, to the Middle East, and to the entire world. God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States, and God bless the entire world."

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.