Donald Trump has defended the U.S. military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities after reports surfaced suggesting the operation may not have achieved its intended goal.
Over the weekend, the U.S. president ordered coordinated airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites (Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan) as part of Operation Midnight Hammer. The mission reportedly involved over 100 aircraft, including advanced B-2 stealth bombers, in what was described as an extremely covert and high-stakes attack.
Trump initially celebrated the strike as a major success. However, conflicting assessments have emerged in the days since.
Speaking to The Independent, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute and former member of the U.S. International Security Advisory Board, raised doubts about the operation’s effectiveness.
“Fordow has symbolic value, but it’s hardly the only underground site tied to Iran’s nuclear efforts,” he said. “Given the delay between planning and execution, Iran likely had time to shut down or even remove key centrifuges.”
An initial assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency appears to echo these concerns. According to CNN, two officials familiar with the classified report stated that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact; suggesting that a follow-up strike may be needed to seriously degrade the program.
The White House has pushed back forcefully against the claims. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the report, calling it “flat-out wrong” and accusing a “low-level leaker in the intelligence community” of undermining the mission.
“This was a flawlessly executed operation,” Leavitt said. “When you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs directly on target, the result is total obliteration.”
Trump, meanwhile, lashed out at media coverage on his social platform Truth Social, writing: “FAKE NEWS CNN, TOGETHER WITH THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES, HAVE TEAMED UP IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY.”
He then added: “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! BOTH THE TIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!”
He also accused the press of disrespecting the “great geniuses” piloting the aircraft involved in the mission, the BBC reports.
The dispute over the strike’s outcome adds another layer of uncertainty to the already fraught U.S.–Iran relationship. With tensions high and conflicting narratives emerging from both sides, the long-term impact of Operation Midnight Hammer remains to be seen.
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