Intercepted Iranian communications downplay damage

30/6/2025 5:58

Intercepted Iranian

communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by U.S.

strikes on Iran's nuclear program, the Washington Post reported

on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified

intelligence circulating within the U.S. government.



A source, who declined to be named, confirmed that account

to Reuters but said there were serious questions about whether

the Iranian officials were being truthful, and described the

intercepts as unreliable indicators.



The report by the Post is the latest, however, to raise

questions about the extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear

program. A leaked preliminary assessment from the Defense

Intelligence Agency cautioned the strikes may have only set back

Iran by months.



President Donald Trump has said the strikes "completely and

totally obliterated" Iran's nuclear program, but U.S. officials

acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of

the damage caused by the U.S. military strikes last weekend.



The White House dismissed the report by the Post.



"The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what

happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their

nuclear weapons program is over," White House press secretary

Karoline Leavitt was quoted as saying by the Post.



In an interview broadcast on Sunday on Fox News, Trump

reiterated his confidence that the strikes had destroyed Iran's

nuclear capabilities. "It was obliterated like nobody's ever

seen before. And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions,

at least for a period of time," he said on the "Sunday Morning

Futures with Maria Bartiromo" program.