Pentagon Probes Iran Strike Intel Leak

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday that the Pentagon, in coordination with the FBI, is conducting a leak investigation after classified findings from a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment were made public. The report, first revealed by CNN and later confirmed by other outlets, suggested the strikes inflicted only limited damage to Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“This information is for internal purposes, battle damage assessments,” Hegseth stated during the NATO summit in The Hague. He accused the press of attempting to "spin it to make the president look bad when this was an overwhelming success.”

Seated next to Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth noted that while the intelligence report does exist, it carries “low confidence” and lacks final verification.

Trump, Rubio Push Back on Damage Claims

President Trump responded by asserting that Iran would not be able to enrich uranium or build a nuclear weapon following the U.S. attacks. “They’re not going to have a bomb,” he said.

Senator Marco Rubio echoed the administration’s message, telling POLITICO, “The bottom line is, they are much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action.”

Rubio added that the United States deployed fourteen 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs against three primary Iranian nuclear facilities. “Significant, very significant, substantial damage was done to a variety of different components,” he said.

Israeli Assessment More Cautious

In a more measured tone, Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin cautioned that it was “still early to assess the results of the operation” but believed the attack had “delivered a significant hit to the nuclear program” and delayed Iran’s progress “by several years.”

Classified Report Fuels Political Tensions

The leaked intelligence suggested that the damage to sites like Fordow and Natanz may not have significantly delayed Iran’s nuclear program, contrary to U.S. public claims. The leak has triggered renewed partisan friction in Washington, with Trump allies labeling the coverage as politically motivated misinformation.

Despite this, the Pentagon maintains the findings in the classified report remain under internal evaluation, and the leak investigation is ongoing.