CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed on Wednesday night that recent targeted strikes have severely impacted Iran's nuclear program.
"The CIA can confirm that credible intelligence indicates that Iran’s nuclear program has been significantly damaged by the recent, targeted strikes,” Ratcliffe said.
He further explained that new intelligence from a historically reliable source revealed that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed, and the rebuilding process would take years.
“The CIA continues to gather additional, reliable information to ensure that appropriate decision-makers and oversight bodies are fully informed,” he added.
He also emphasized that, when possible, updates would be provided to the American public, acknowledging the national importance of the matter and the need for transparency.
Trump says massive level of devastation of nuclear sites
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said at a press conference at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, that all the enriched uranium Iran had was inside the sites that were bombed, The Jerusalem Post previously reported.
Throughout his speech, he stressed the level of devastation the US strikes caused at Iran's nuclear facilities while calling all media reports from CNN and The New York Times "fake news."
Trump also compared the US strikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities to the US bombing of Hiroshima, alleging that the US strikes on the nuclear facilities ended the war between Israel and Iran, similar to how World War II ended.
He added that he was not sure if the US needed to make a deal with Iran at all due to the levels of destruction at the Iranian nuclear facilities.
However, Israeli officials told the Post that it is not known how much uranium was destroyed, nor if Iran can reach the uranium that was not damaged.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.