US Defense Secretary Pete Higgins insisted that the American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were successful. He backed President Donald Trump and criticized the media for questioning the results of the operation.

Over the weekend, US B-2 bombers struck two Iranian nuclear sites with massive GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, while a submarine fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at a third site.

“President Trump has created the conditions for ending the war, destroying — choose your word — eliminating Iran's nuclear capability,” Hagseth said at the Pentagon, referring to the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran.

Trump called the strikes a “tremendous military success” and repeatedly said they had “destroyed” the nuclear sites, AFP reported.

The US president also insisted that Iran had failed to move nuclear materials, including enriched uranium, before the US military action.

“Nothing was taken out of the facility. It would take too much time, it's too dangerous, and it's very heavy and difficult to move!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

However, US media revealed a preliminary assessment by US intelligence earlier this week that the strikes had only delayed Iran's nuclear program by months. Hagseth sharply criticized this information.

“Whether it's CNN, MSNBC, or the New York Times, the preliminary assessment was reported with restraint,” the defense secretary said.

The document was “leaked because someone had an intention to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike was not successful,” Hagitt said.

Trump also lashed out at the reporting of the intelligence report, insisting that journalists should lose their jobs.

Hegseth did not say definitively that the enriched uranium and enrichment centrifuges at the heart of Iran's controversial nuclear program had been destroyed, but he quoted intelligence officials — albeit without much detail — who claimed that the nuclear facilities had been destroyed.

“If you want to know what's going on in Fordow, you better go there and get a big shovel, because right now there's nobody down there,” he said, referring to the deep underground nuclear facility.

On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign targeting Iranian nuclear sites, scientists, and senior military officials in an attempt to end the nuclear program. According to Tehran, it has only civilian purposes, but according to Washington and other powers, it aims to build atomic weapons.

Trump spent weeks seeking a diplomatic path to replace the nuclear agreement with Tehran, which he withdrew from during his first term in 2018, but ultimately decided to take military action.

The US operation was massive. It involved more than 125 American aircraft, including stealth bombers, fighter jets, and refueling tankers, as well as a submarine with guided missiles. | BGNES