The U.S. strikes on Iran have only set back the country’s nuclear ambitions by a few months, according to a leaked intelligence report. President Donald Trump refuted the preliminary assessment and said Tehran’s nuclear sites were “obliterated.”
For now, the cease-fire between Iran and Israel seems to be holding firm after Trump berated both countries on Tuesday for violating the agreement just hours after it began.
Israel lifted several wartime restrictions, including reopening its airspace for travel and returning its airports to full operation–signs it intends to honor the truce. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will remain committed to the cease-fire as long as Israel does not violate it, the country’s Tasnim News Agency reported late Tuesday.
However, the leaked Defense Intelligence Agency report could put the fragile peace under strain. The agency’s findings concluded that the attacks only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the intelligence.
Trump disputed the assessment, initially reported by CNN, and said “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY OBLITERATED,” in a post on Truth Social.
“This alleged ‘assessment’ is flat-out wrong,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.
The deal to halt attacks got off to a fragile start Tuesday after each side accused the other of violating the truce within hours of its inception. Trump vented his anger to reporters outside the White House. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know the f— they’re doing,” he said.
The truce remains shaky but for now there are positive signs that Iran and Israel want to avoid any further conflict.