- Trump “exaggerated” impact of US strikes, says Khamenei.
- Says US was dealt “slap” after striking Iranian nuclear sites.
- No known intelligence that Iran moved uranium, says Pentagon.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made conflicting claims on Thursday following the recent American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since June 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities — Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow early Sunday.
In a televised address, US President Donald Trump had said that Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities had been completely and totally obliterated.
“A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Fordow is gone.”
An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strikes did not destroy key components and that Iran’s nuclear programme was set back only months at most.
Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of enriched uranium — which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country.
‘US has gained nothing from this war’
In his first appearance since a ceasefire in the war with Israel took hold, Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei said US President Trump “exaggerated” the impact of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
In a statement and a televised speech carried by state media, he hailed his country’s “victory” over Israel and vowed never to surrender to the United States, while claiming that Washington had been dealt a “slap” after striking Iranian nuclear sites.
“The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration,” Khamenei said.
The US “has gained nothing from this war,” he said, adding that American strikes “did nothing significant” to Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“The Islamic republic won, and in retaliation dealt a severe slap to the face of America,” he said, a reference to Iran’s missile launch targeting the largest US base in the Middle East.
“I want to congratulate the great Iranian nation… for its victory over the fallacious Zionist regime,” he added, claiming that Israel had “almost collapsed” because of Iran’s strikes.
Both Iran and Israel had already claimed they won, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailing on Tuesday a “historic victory” for Israel.
‘No known intelligence that Iran moved uranium’
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program over the weekend.
“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,” Hegseth said in an often fiery news conference.
Trump, who watched the exchange with reporters, echoed his defense secretary, saying it would have taken too long to remove anything.
“The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of (the) facility,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, without providing evidence.
Several experts cautioned this week that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes, and could be hiding it and other nuclear components in locations unknown to Israel, the US and UN nuclear inspectors.
They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing “unusual activity” at Fordow on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance to the facility. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday that most of the 60% highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the US attack.
Whereabouts of Uranium
The Financial Times, citing European capitals, reported that Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact since it was not concentrated at Fordow.
Hegseth’s comments denying such claims came at the news briefing where he also accused the media of downplaying the success of the US strikes following a leaked, preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting they may have only set back Iran by months.
He said the assessment was low confidence, and, citing comments from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, said it had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged and would take years to rebuild.
Ratcliffe was one of the four top national security officials due to hold a classified briefing on the strikes later on Thursday for all 100 members of the US Senate.
That briefing had been scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed. The Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution that would require congressional approval for strikes against Iran.
At the Pentagon news conference, Hegseth described the strikes as “historically successful.” His comments came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East.
Khamenei claimed victory after 12 days of war, and promised Iran would not surrender despite Trump’s calls.
‘Media hatred’
During the news conference, Hegseth criticised the media, without evidence, for having an anti-Trump bias.
“It’s in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad,” Hegseth said.
“There are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that … because of the hatred of this press corps, are undermined,” he said.
Trump praised Hegseth’s news conference as: “One of the greatest, most professional, and most ‘confirming’ News Conferences I have ever seen!”
On X, Hegseth thanked Trump for his praise.
During the press conference, the top US general largely stuck to technical details, outlining the history of the bunker-busting bombs used. General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, showed a video testing the bombs on a bunker like the ones struck on Sunday.
Caine declined to provide his own assessment of the strike and deferred to the intelligence community. He denied being under any pressure to change his assessment to present a more optimistic view of the US strikes.
He also said he would not change his assessment due to politics. Uniformed military officials are supposed to remain apolitical and provide their best military advice.
“I’ve never been pressured by the president or the secretary to do anything other than tell them exactly what I’m thinking, and that’s exactly what I’ve done,” he said.
