Intercepted communications between senior Iranian officials suggest the recent US military strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme caused less damage than expected, according to a report by The Washington Post on Sunday.
The classified signals intelligence showed Iranian officials privately discussing why the attacks ordered by US President Donald Trump were not as destructive as anticipated, the newspaper reported, citing four people familiar with the issue.
However, a senior US intelligence official told the newspaper that a single piece of signals intelligence “does not reflect the full intelligence picture”. The official cautioned that one phone call is not equivalent to a full assessment based on multiple sources.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among other top officials insist the strikes “completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, acknowledged serious damage but said key materials had been moved beforehand, limiting long-term harm.
Trump, on the other hand, rejects any evacuation claims, saying: “They did not move anything. They did not think it was going to be actually doable what we did.”
A preliminary US intelligence assessment, reported by CNN and The New York Times, suggested the strikes may have set Iran’s programme back only by a few months — a view the White House disputes.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said “new intelligence” found the attacks caused “severe damage” that will take years to rebuild.
