Hegseth launches into tirade over coverage of Iran strikes
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has berated journalists for their coverage of the impact of America’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which he described as “historically successful”.
A combative Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Dan Caine worked to convey the extent of the weekend strikes at a press conference on Thursday (US time).
Hegseth said Iran’s nuclear capabilities were destroyed and that a leaked intelligence report was a preliminary assessment, while accusing news outlets of having an agenda.
“Time and time again, classified information is leaked and peddled for political purposes,” he said.
“Because of the hatred of this press … your people are trying to leak and spin that it wasn’t successful. It’s irresponsible.”
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said the attack was devastating, and “knocked them for a loop”. It came as his administration scrambled to support his claims, made only hours after the air strikes, that Iranian nuclear facilities were “completely and fully obliterated”.
The US Defence Intelligence Agency, part of the Pentagon, said the strikes may have had only a limited impact, disrupting Iran’s nuclear program by a couple of months.
Trump wrote on social media that “these Patriots were very upset” by “Fake News” reports about the limited impact of the strikes.
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Most experts say it’s simply too early to know the extent of the impact.
Following the leaked assessment, the White House intends to try to limit the sharing of classified documents with Congress, according to a senior White House official.
The move, first reported by Axios, seems certain to be challenged by members of Congress.
Also no Thursday, Caine released test footage showing the destructive power of the bunker-buster bombs that struck the underground target.
Meanwhile, Trump has said the US will likely seek a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks next week.
Iran has not acknowledged any such talks are scheduled. However, US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries.
Speaking in The Hague at the NATO summit on Wednesday, Trump said he did not see Iran getting involved again in developing nuclear weapons.
Iran has always denied decades of accusations by some countries that it is seeking nuclear arms.
Khameini claims victory
Iran delivered a “slap to America’s face” with its strike on an American base in Qatar, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says.
He also warned against further US attacks, in his first public comments since a ceasefire was declared with Israel after 12 days of war.
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Khamenei spoke in a recorded video broadcast on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19.
The 86-year-old looked and sounded more tired than he did only a week ago, speaking in a hoarse voice and occasionally stumbling over his words.
The supreme leader’s 10-minute-plus speech was filled with warnings and threats directed toward the US and Israel.
He played down Sunday’s US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites using bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles, saying Trump had “exaggerated” its impact.
“They could not achieve anything significant,” he said.
However, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi, reiterated on Thursday that the damage from Israeli and US strikes at Iranian nuclear facilities was “very, very, very considerable”.
“I think annihilated is too much but it suffered enormous damage,” Grossi told French broadcaster RFI.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, on Wednesday also conceded that “our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure”.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists.
Following Sunday’s US attack, Trump helped negotiate the ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday.
Khamenei claimed the US had intervened in the war only because “it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed”.
“It entered the war to save them, yet it gained nothing,” he said.
He said his country’s attack on the US base in Qatar on Monday was significant, since it showed Iran “has access to important US centres in the region and can act against them whenever it deems necessary”.
“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” he said, adding “this action can be repeated in the future”.
“Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,” he said.
