Pentagon officials defend success of U.S. strikes on Iran amid intel leak

Pentagon officials defend success of U.S. strikes on Iran amid intel leak
By: CBS Politics Posted On: June 26, 2025 View: 0

General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Thursday released video of the tests of the type of "bunker-buster" bombs that were dropped on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend as he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to illustrate the severity of the strikes amid the leak of an initial intelligence report

Caine showed the video of a massive bomb striking an underground target at the joint press conference with Hegseth, saying it was the "culmination of over 15 years of development and testing." 

Hegseth slammed the media and the leak of a Defense Intelligence Agency report that said an initial assessment suggested the strikes had only set back Iran's nuclear program by a matter of months. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth and Air Force Chief Caine hold briefing at Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine, speak during a press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 26, 2025. Idrees Ali / REUTERS

"This report acknowledges it's likely severe damage," Hegseth said. "Again, this is preliminary, leaked — because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn't successful." 

The Defense Intelligence Agency's initial assessment, according to a senior DIA official, was considered to be a "preliminary, low confidence assessment."

On Thursday, Hegseth slammed media outlets for "breathlessly" reporting the DIA assessment, echoing criticism leveled by President Trump.

Posting on Truth Social during the press conference, Mr. Trump suggested that The New York Times and CNN "will be firing the reporters who made up the FAKE stories on the Iran Nuclear sites because they got it so wrong. Lets see what happens?"

Mr. Trump and Hegseth have said using multiple 30,000 pound bombs "obliterated" Iran's nuclear ambitions. 

Since reports of the DIA's initial assessment surfaced, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a new statement saying the nuclear sites have been "destroyed." CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Iran's nuclear program was "severely damaged." 

At a news conference Sunday, Caine said final assessments would take time. 

"Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction," Caine said. 

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