The ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which US President Donald Trump announced, seems to be holding off for now. There were reports of an Iranian missile attack on Israel and an Israeli attack on Tehran after the truce was announced.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was “in effect.” Although both Iran and Israel have acknowledged it, no information has surfaced regarding the specifics of the agreement, or any compromises made by any party.
According to an early US intelligence assessment cited by seven persons briefed on the matter, the American military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities this weekend did not destroy the country’s nuclear program’s essential components and most likely just caused it to lag by months.
The Pentagon’s intelligence arm, the Defense Intelligence Agency, produced the evaluation, which has never been published before. According to one of the sources, it is based on an evaluation of damage carried out by US Central Command following the strikes.
As further intelligence becomes available, the assessments of the attacks’ effects on Iran’s nuclear aspirations and the damage to the installations may change. Trump has asserted that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, although the first results contradict this assertion.
Additionally, on Sunday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declared that Iran’s nuclear aspirations “have been obliterated.”
Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was not eliminated, said two sources with knowledge of the assessment. The centrifuges are essentially “intact,” according to one of the individuals. Before the US strikes, the intelligence-assessed enriched uranium was removed from the locations, a different source claimed.
“So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” the person added.
Meanwhile, the White House has denied intelligence reports claiming that US bombardment of Iran’s nuclear sites merely set back the country’s nuclear program by months and did not destroy the facilities completely.
“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community. The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program’” said the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt giving a statement to CNN.
“Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,” she added.
The recent Israeli and US strikes against Iran have sparked deep concern among the BRICS group of countries, which is made up of Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Russia. In a statement, the countries called the strikes a “violation of international law” and the UN Charter.
Israel unexpectedly unleashed a barrage of attacks on Iran on June 13, claiming that this was required to stop the nation from developing nuclear weapons. They stated it was an impending threat. Israel has persisted in attacking Iranian targets, while Iran has responded with a string of missile and drone attacks on Israel.