The Trump administration is aggressively pushing back against media reports that question the success of recent strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
While President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are hailing the operation as a “spectacular military success” that “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, some media outlets have cited a preliminary intelligence assessment suggesting the strikes only set back Iran’s program by months.
Hegseth has accused these news organizations, including CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times, of publishing “fake news” and suggested the leaked assessment was intended to undermine the perception of a successful operation.
Trump has gone further, blaming Democrats for the leak and calling for their prosecution.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged “serious” damage from the 12-day conflict with Israel.
He stated that Iran is assessing the impact and plans to seek compensation.
