Intel leaders say new intelligence shows Iran's nuclear sites could take "years" to rebuild
Iran, Israel and US agree that Islamic Republic nuclear sites were 'badly damaged' despite leaked intel report
The heads of two key American intelligence agencies issued statements Wednesday on what they said was "new" intelligence on the damage resulting from the recent U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, each noting the Iranian program was likely to have been set back by "years."
The statements were released after President Trump decried a leaked, preliminary assessment produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency that said Tehran's nuclear program had only been pushed back by a matter of months.
Mr. Trump had ordered airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities late Saturday, adding to a more than weeklong Israeli campaign against targets in Iran.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement Wednesday that "a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran's Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes."
"This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years," Ratcliffe's statement said.
It added the agency would continue to collect "additional reliably sourced information" to share with policymakers, and, when possible, to provide updates to the public.
A CIA spokesperson declined to elaborate on the intelligence referenced by Ratcliffe's statement, including the confidence level associated with it or whether it included Israeli or other foreign intelligence.
Earlier on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also wrote on X that "new intelligence confirms what President Trump has stated numerous times: Iran's nuclear facilities have been destroyed."
"If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do," Gabbard's statement read.
An intelligence official later confirmed to CBS News that the information shared by Gabbard was based on new American intelligence, but declined to specify its confidence level.
Neither of the statements directly addressed some of the questions raised by lawmakers and nonproliferation experts in the aftermath of the strikes about what kinds of residual nuclear capabilities Iran may have retained.
There are also conflicting views about whether Iranian officials had managed to transport enriched uranium away from the sites before they were bombed. The DIA assessment indicated at least some of the enriched uranium had been moved, according to one source familiar with it.
But when asked whether enriched material was successfully moved during a press availability following the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, President Trump said, "We think we hit them so hard and so fast, they didn't get to move."
The president also said the U.S. and Iran were expected to hold talks "next week." The format remains unclear, for now, but special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff is expected to lead the talks, if they happen, two U.S. officials told CBS News. Witkoff has spoken with the Iranian foreign minister, and recently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance have also become more involved in the diplomacy, a U.S. and regional diplomat told CBS News.
Both Ratcliffe and Gabbard were slated to participate in a classified Senate briefing on Tuesday on the U.S. strikes in Iran, but the session was cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday. The House is expected to be briefed on Friday. It is unclear whether both leaders will still participate in both briefings.
Ratcliffe and Gabbard's statements on Wednesday also included criticism of the leak to media outlets of the DIA assessment, which a spokesperson for that agency later said was issued with low confidence and would be refined as additional intelligence becomes available.
The initial DIA report said the entrances to two Iranian nuclear sites — including the Fordo facility — were sealed off in the strikes, but that Iran could reconstitute elements of its program once it dug out and made repairs to water and electrical systems, according to sources familiar with it.
The assessment also provided a range of possibilities for how long it could take for Iran to regain access to the underground facilities and resume some operations, ranging from a few months to less than a year, one source familiar with the assessment told CBS News.
Administration officials have blasted those findings, which are at odds with Mr. Trump's repeated assertions that Saturday night's airstrikes "obliterated" Iran's nuclear facilities.
Speaking from the NATO summit, Mr. Trump said the airstrikes set back Iran's program by "basically decades."
"They said it could be limited or it could be very severe. They really didn't know," Mr. Trump said of the U.S. intelligence assessments.
Appearing alongside the president, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Wednesday the damage to the sites was extensive.
"If you want to make an assessment of what happened at Fordo, you'd better get a big shovel and go really deep, because Iran's nuclear program is obliterated," he told reporters.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said in a press availability on Sunday following the strikes that a full battle damage assessment of the strikes "will take some time."
He said at the time that the three targets "sustained extremely severe damage and destruction."
Hegseth is set to lead a press briefing Thursday morning, which Mr. Trump said "will prove both interesting and irrefutable."
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