Debate grows over Iran's nuclear capabilities after strikes

The true extent of Iran's remaining nuclear capacity after U.S. strikes remains highly contested, as official assessments from the Trump administration face growing scrutiny from intelligence leaks.

U.S. intelligence reports indicate the strikes on nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan did not completely destroy Iran's program but instead delayed it by just months. A classified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment suggested that the bunker buster bombs used in the attack failed to collapse underground buildings, while some of Iran's centrifuges also remain intact, according to U.S. media reports.

In contrast, high-ranking U.S. officials such as CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth maintain the strikes inflicted crippling damage, claims Tehran say are exaggerated.

Ratcliffe reportedly told lawmakers that the operation destroyed Iran's key metal conversion facility at Isfahan, significantly hindering its ability to produce weapon‑grade uranium. Hegseth, citing assessments based on AI modeling, said the campaign "obliterated" critical nuclear infrastructure and dismissed intelligence suggesting uranium stockpiles were relocated. President Donald Trump has called the strikes a "spectacular military success."

These conflicting assessments have added more uncertainty to what is already a heated debate. While senior U.S. officials publicly insist the damage was significant, media outlets continue to receive anonymous leaks from government sources suggesting otherwise.

In a report published on Sunday, the Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, said intercepted communications between Iranian officials suggest that the strikes may have caused only limited damage. According to the report, the officials speculated on why the attacks were less destructive than they had expected.

In a televised interview with France 2 last week, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has cast doubt on the U.S. claim that Iran's nuclear progress had been undone by decades, calling it a "political assessment."

While the U.S. operation significantly impacted enrichment and conversion facilities, it stopped short of completely eliminating Iran's nuclear capacity, Grossi said in a later interview with CBS News. He suggested that Iran could resume enrichment within months and that some uranium may have been moved in advance, a possibility reinforced by satellite images showing a convoy near Fordow prior to the strikes

According to the IAEA chief, Iran had informed the IAEA on June 13 of its intent to take "special measures" to protect nuclear materials.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted on Thursday the country's nuclear facilities had sustained significant and serious damages. "The losses have not been small," he told Iran's state television.

These remarks came hours after Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said "the strikes were unable to do anything important" in a prerecorded video.