Intercepted Iranian
communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by U.S.
strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reported
on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified
intelligence circulating within the U.S. government.
A source, who declined to be named, confirmed that account
to Reuters but said there were serious questions about whether
the Iranian officials were being truthful, and described the
intercepts as unreliable indicators.
The report by the Post is the latest, however, to raise
questions about the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear
program. A leaked preliminary assessment from the Defense
Intelligence Agency cautioned the strikes may have only set back
Iran by months.
President Donald Trump has said the strikes “completely and
totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but U.S. officials
acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of
the damage caused by the U.S. military strikes last weekend.
The White House dismissed the report by the Post.
“The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what
happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their
nuclear weapons program is over,” White House press secretary
Karoline Leavitt was quoted as saying by the Post.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday on Fox News, Trump
reiterated his confidence that the strikes had destroyed Iran’s
nuclear capabilities. “It was obliterated like nobody’s ever
seen before. And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions,
at least for a period of time,” he said on the “Sunday Morning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Intercepted Iraniancommunications downplayed the extent of damage caused by U.S.strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reportedon Sunday, citing four people familiar with classifiedintelligence circulating within the U.S. government.A source, who declined to be named, confirmed that accountto Reuters but said there were serious questions about whetherthe Iranian officials were being truthful, and described […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n