US airstrikes failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites: Intel
According to a preliminary US intelligence report, airstrikes on Iran only sealed nuclear site entrances, falling short of Trump’s claim of obliteration, as a fragile ceasefire holds.
News Arena Network - Tehran - UPDATED: June 25, 2025, 09:41 AM - 2 min read
Representative image.
Despite Washington's claims of a decisive blow, early intelligence suggests that United States airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure inflicted only limited damage, setting back Tehran’s programme by a few months at best.
A preliminary assessment, cited by multiple sources and reported by American news outlets, has contradicted President Donald Trump’s boast that 30,000-pound bombs had “obliterated” Iran’s uranium enrichment capability. According to the report, entrances to two facilities were sealed, but key underground infrastructure survived, and some centrifuges remained intact.
The findings come as a tenuous ceasefire, brokered by President Trump, took hold between Israel and Iran following a 12-day exchange of missile and aerial attacks that raised the spectre of a broader regional war.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the assessment, telling CNN, “This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong.” The administration later informed the United Nations Security Council that the strikes had “degraded” Iran’s programme, a more restrained claim than the president’s earlier pronouncement.
Before-and-after satellite images show Fordow’s Shahid Ali Mohammadi enrichment plant near Qom: entrances caved in following US strikes, yet the underground facility’s core structures appear largely unharmed beneath the mountain. The two marked areas display the aftermath of the airstrikes.
Tehran, for its part, declared victory. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called the conclusion of hostilities a “great victory”, and communicated Tehran’s willingness to address differences with the United States in a message to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported the IRNA news agency.
Israel, which initiated the confrontation on 13 June with strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and senior military commanders, also claimed success. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “We have removed two immediate existential threats to us: the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles.”
Iran responded with a barrage of missiles targeting Israeli cities and military installations, penetrating Israeli air defences in unprecedented numbers. Iran’s military reported 610 deaths and 4,746 injuries due to Israeli strikes. Israel reported 28 fatalities from Iranian missile attacks.
As the ceasefire was announced, both nations began lifting wartime restrictions. Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv resumed operations, while Iranian airspace was reopened.
President Trump’s role as broker of the fragile truce was notable for his criticism of both parties. “I’ve got to get Israel to calm down now,” he said before departing for a NATO summit. “Iran and Israel had been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
His language, unusually harsh for a close ally, was reportedly triggered by Israel’s retaliatory strike on a radar site near Tehran, which came hours after the ceasefire was due to commence. Iran, in turn, denied launching any missiles following the truce.
The truce was reached after behind-the-scenes efforts involving Trump, Netanyahu and indirect communication with Iran, US officials confirmed. Still, each side has accused the other of breaching the ceasefire.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Pete Hegseth that Israel would uphold the ceasefire so long as Iran did. Pezeshkian made similar remarks in Iranian media, affirming Iran’s readiness to maintain calm.
Israel’s armed forces chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, described the ceasefire as the close of a “significant chapter” but maintained that the campaign against Iran was ongoing. “We will now refocus on our war against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza,” he said.
Iran’s military command warned both Israel and the United States to “learn from the crushing blows” inflicted during the conflict.
Markets responded with relief. Oil prices dropped sharply, and global stock indices surged as fears of prolonged disruption to Gulf energy exports eased.
Among civilians in the region, weariness over the sudden escalation and tentative peace was palpable. “Who mediated or how it happened doesn’t matter,” said Reza Sharifi, 38, returning to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea with his family. “The war is over. It never should have started in the first place.”
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