Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L), accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine (R), speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday about the U.S. airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America hide caption
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Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America
Striking a combative tone, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lambasted the media Thursday, saying it was more focused on “cheering against” President Trump than covering a “historically successful attack” on Iranian nuclear sites.
“President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history,” Hegseth declared at a Pentagon news conference. “It was a resounding success resulting in a ceasefire agreement” in the 12-day war involving Iran, Israel and the U.S.
He aggressively condemned the leak of a preliminary report by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, shared Tuesday with news organizations, including NPR. The DIA is part of the Pentagon, which Hegseth oversees.
The report, based on the available information just a day-and-a-half after the U.S. attack, described the damage as “limited” and said the strike may have set back the Iranian nuclear program by just a matter of months. Hegseth said the document itself noted this was a “preliminary, low-confidence report that will continue to be refined.”
Trump has responded angrily to media stories citing that report and has claimed repeatedly that the Iranian program was “totally obliterated.”
Trump has not cited evidence for this claim, but Hegseth and other top administration officials have stepped in to back the president.
“President Trump created the conditions to end the war. Decimating, choose your word, obliterating, destroying, Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” Hegseth said.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe issued a statement Wednesday saying Iran’s nuclear program has been “severely damaged” and any attempt to rebuild it would have to be done “over the course of years.” The CIA rarely issues public statements on such sensitive matters, especially when the intelligence gathering is still ongoing.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on X that “Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed. If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordo, Esfahan) entirely.”
Hegseth repeatedly criticized the media, citing a number of news organizations and reporters by name, for what he called “a great deal of irresponsible reporting.”
Standing next to Hegseth at the Pentagon briefing, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, struck a more reserved tone.
He recounted the U.S. effort, dating back more than 15 years, to study the Fordo nuclear site, then develop and test the weapon that would be used in the operation carried out early Sunday, which was named Midnight Hammer.
Gen. Caine said the strikes by the B-2 Stealth Bombers, which dropped 14 bunker-busting bombs on Iran, went exactly according to plan.
A few days before the U.S. attack, Iran placed cement caps at the top of the ventilation shafts to the site, Caine said. The actual facility is believed to be some 300 feet underground, inside a mountain about 100 miles to the south of the capital Tehran.
The initial U.S. airstrikes knocked out the cement gaps. Several subsequent strikes dropped bombs down the ventilation shafts, where they exploded deep underground, the general said.
The U.S. used 30,000-pound bombs known as the GBU-57 or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The bombs were designed specifically for sites deep underground and had been tested for years, but have never been used before in combat.
Caine said it was not his role to perform a battle damage assessment, noting this is the responsibility of the various U.S. intelligence agencies.
“We don’t grade our own homework,” Caine said.
While the general provided many new details about the operation, a number of key questions remain unanswered, including the status of Iran’s highly enriched uranium.
The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently said Iran has about 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium. The uranium is enriched to 60 percent purity, and would need to reach 90 percent purity to be weapons grade, but that could be done relatively quickly.
Iran was believed to be storing that material at one of its main nuclear facilities. But it could be moved and it’s not clear whether Iran may have taken it to a secret location before the U.S. attack.
When asked where Iran’s highly enriched uranium might be, Hegseth said, “I’m not aware of any intelligence that I’ve reviewed, that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise.”
