Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has attacked the media for questioning the efficacy of the US’s bombing campaign following a leaked report.

United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine have responded to a leaked intelligence report suggesting the military’s strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities likely put the country back by mere months.

In a Thursday morning news conference from the Pentagon, the two officials maintained that Iran’s nuclear programme had been destroyed, echoing President Donald Trump’s version of events.

But that contradicted a preliminary report, produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), saying the June 22 bombing campaign was a relatively minor setback for Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which could be restored within months.

“President Trump delivered the most complex and secretive military operation in history, and it was a resounding success resulting in the ceasefire agreement and the end of the 12-day war,” said Hegseth.

“Because of decisive military action, President Trump created the conditions to end the war, decimating — choose your word — obliterating, destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities.”

Drawing reliable conclusions about the effect of the US strikes is difficult only days after they took place.

President Trump has insisted, however, that the US strikes delivered a “devastating” attack. He has also told reporters that questioning his assessment of the strike was not only unpatriotic but also made the pilots who dropped the bombs “very upset”.

While Hegseth and Caine spoke, Trump encouraged his followers on the platform Truth Social to watch their remarks, calling it “one of the greatest, most professional, and most ‘confirming’ News Conferences I have ever seen!”

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He also wrote that news outlets like The New York Times and CNN would be “firing the reporters who made up the FAKE stories” on the Iran bombing campaign, though there is no evidence to support that assertion.

A day earlier, on Wednesday, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe said the US attacks in Iran caused severe damage to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“New intelligence from ‘historically reliable’ methods had shown that ‘several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years,’” Ratcliffe said in a statement, which lacked further details.

A military assessment

The June 22 bombing campaign marked the US’s only direct intervention in what Trump has dubbed the 12-Day War between Iran and Israel.

The conflict started on June 13, when Israel launched a series of attacks on military targets in Iran, killing several generals and scientists in its nuclear programme.

Israel argued the attacks were necessary to hobble Iran’s efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon. Iran, meanwhile, has maintained it has never sought to create a nuclear weapon and instead uses its nuclear enrichment programme to create civilian energy. It responded with a missile barrage of its own against Israel.

The US has long been an ardent ally of Israel, but in the early days of the conflict, Trump avoided committing the US to any direct involvement. That changed on June 22, when he sent seven B-2 bombers to drop “bunker-buster” munitions on three Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordow.

A ceasefire was declared a few days later.

But questions have endured about the efficacy of the US’s intervention. On Thursday, Hegseth and Caine sought to put those questions to rest with a forceful presentation.

Standing in front of a poster with images of Iran’s Fordow facility, Caine gave reporters a walkthrough of the bombs used in the attack, how the mission was carried out and who comprised the bomber crews.

He also played a video of one of the bunker-busting bombs in action.

“All six weapons at each vent at Fordow went exactly where they were intended to go,” Caine said.

He then offered a breakdown of what gave the US military confidence about the success of its mission.

“Here’s what we know following the attacks and the strikes on Fordow,” he said. “First, that the weapons were built, tested and loaded properly. Two: The weapons were released on speed and on parameter. Three: The weapons were all guided to their intended target and intended aim points. Four: The weapons functioned as designed, meaning they exploded.”

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Defence secretary berates media

Hegseth, meanwhile, largely focused his comments on the media’s response. A former Fox News host, he criticised his fellow journalists for “hunting for scandals all the time” and failing to acknowledge “historic moments” under President Trump.

When pressed by a reporter about what had changed in their understanding of the June 22 strike, Hegseth reiterated the Trump administration’s position that sites like Fordow had been dealt a fatal blow.

“I could use the word obliterated. He could use defeat, destroyed, assess, all of those things. But ultimately, we’re here to clarify what these weapons are capable of,” Hegseth said.

“Anyone with two eyes, some ears and a brain can recognise that kind of firepower, with that specificity at that location and others is going to have a devastating effect.”

Hegseth and Trump both denied on Thursday that Iran could have moved its stockpile of enriched uranium before the US strikes.

“I’m not aware of any intelligence that I’ve reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be — moved or otherwise,” Hegseth said.

Ambiguity remains

Still, there have been conflicting reports about just how much damage was sustained by Iran’s nuclear programme.

The Financial Times on Thursday published a report saying European governments had assessed that Iran’s uranium stockpile had been redistributed to sites outside of Fordow before the attack.

In his first public comments since the war began, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also said on Thursday that Trump overstated the results of the strikes.

“The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways,” Khamenei said, adding that the US “gained nothing from this war”.

By his account, the US bombing campaign “did nothing significant” to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

While Thursday’s briefing with Hegseth and Caine offered details about the weaponry used in the June 22 attacks, analysts say it lacked evidence to justify the Trump administration’s assertions.

“The presser on US strikes on Iran was an orchestrated narrative, very much focused on the storytelling,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane.

“I don’t think we know the actual facts of the matter yet. They say they detailed how many bombs were dropped, how they went through ventilation shafts, but they didn’t share any actual evidence that the facility was, in their words, obliterated.”

Gilan, Iran – The Israeli military used hundreds of fighter jets, armed drones and refuelling planes to attack Iran during its 12-day war backed by the United States, but it was also heavily assisted by operations launched from deep within Iranian soil.

Just hours after the Israeli army and Mossad spy agency started their attacks before dawn on June 13, they released footage that appeared to have been recorded at night from undisclosed locations inside Iran.

One grainy video showed Mossad operatives, camouflaged and wearing tactical gear including night-vision goggles, crouched in what looked like desert terrain, deploying weapons that aimed to destroy Iran’s air defence systems to help pave the way for incoming attack aircraft.

Others showed projectiles, with mounted cameras, descending to slam into Iranian missile defence batteries, as well as ballistic missile platforms. The projectiles appeared to be Spike missiles – relatively small, precision-guided anti-armour missiles that can be programmed to fly to targets that are out of their line of sight.

Iranian authorities also confirmed the use of the weapons, with state media showing images of remnants of customised Spike missile launchers that were discovered in one open area. They said the weapons were equipped with “internet-based automation and remote-controlled systems” and were operated by “terrorist Mossad agents”.

The move partly echoed an Israeli operation in November 2020 that killed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior figure in Iran’s nuclear programme, who was gunned down in a city near Tehran while moving in a vehicle with his wife and bodyguards. Iranian authorities at the time confirmed that the assassination was carried out using remote-controlled and artificial intelligence-guided equipment, with Israeli media reporting that a one-tonne gun was smuggled into Iran in pieces by Mossad and mounted on the back of a pick-up truck, which exploded after Fakhrizadeh was killed.

Iran executed three men on Wednesday morning in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan, accused of being involved in Fakhrizadeh’s death and other assassinations.

A man stands outside a building in a residential area of Marzdaran district, where Iranian nuclear scientists were hit in drone strikes on June 25, 2025, in Tehran, Iran [Majid Saeedi/Getty Images]

Drone manufacturing inside Iran

Israel also appears to have used a large number of explosives-laden small drones and quadcopters during the 12-day war to overwhelm Iranian defences as part of its multipronged assault operations.

Iranian media reported throughout the war that air defences across the country were activated to counter the small drones, as well as larger military-grade counterparts like the Hermes 900, several of which Iran claimed to have shot down. However, the exact number of drones launched and how successful they were in hitting their targets cannot be corroborated by Al Jazeera.

The smaller drones attracted a lot of attention and forced authorities to muster large-scale search operations to neutralise them, as Israeli warplanes dropped more bombs across the country and US President Donald Trump briefly rhetorically backed the possibility of regime change.

Soon, authorities found pick-up trucks with customised cargo beds that were made to accommodate small, pre-programmed drones that they said could be driven close to their intended targets before launching. Such a strategy has been used successfully elsewhere as well, including at the start of June when Ukraine managed to destroy as much as a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet on the tarmac of four airfields deep inside Russian territory.

Iranian authorities organised search parties, particularly at night, consisting of security forces who patrolled the streets on motorcycles or vehicles to look for any suspicious trucks or movement. Armed and masked security forces also set up countless roadblocks and checkpoints in sprawling Tehran and across the country, including in northern provinces where millions travelled after fleeing the capital, which typically stopped and searched pick-up trucks with covered cargo beds.

After what the Israelis said were years of preparations, their operatives appear to have been able to set up small production lines of the unmanned vehicles inside Iran.

One such operation was discovered in Shahr-e Rey in southern Tehran, where state media said a three-storey building was dedicated to churning out drones, homemade bombs and a large volume of explosives.

Security forces located a clandestine drone-manufacturing site in Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran.

The three floors building, was used by Israeli agents to assemble and store UAVs intended for terrorists operations.

Officials also found homemade bombs and over 200 kg of explosives. pic.twitter.com/wrZz1vc12x — Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) June 15, 2025

State television also showed another similar operation, in which six Iranian “Mossad agents” were assembling quadcopters with small bombs attached under them, as well as bombs with timers, grenades and other weapons. There were also reports of vehicles planted with explosives, but there was no official confirmation by Iranian authorities.

Some of the arrested suspects were shown confessing on state television with their hands bound and their eyes covered. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohsen-Ejei and Tehran’s public prosecutor Ali Salehi personally interrogated one unnamed suspect on state television, who said he tried to film air defences for the Mossad from rooftops.

‘We are all under surveillance’

The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, confirmed in a video statement on Wednesday that commando forces “operated covertly deep in enemy territory and carried out operations that granted us operational freedom of action”. He did not say whether he was referring to the commandos shown at the start of the operation on the first night or other potential operations.

Iranian officials have not directly commented on claimed Israeli commando operations from inside Iranian territory.

But authorities continue to announce dozens of arrests across Iran in relation to collaboration with Israel and the US, and have so far executed at least six people accused of collaborating since the start of the war.

Israeli intelligence operations inside Iran are believed to have been a major contributor to the success of the June 13 surprise attacks that started the war, which killed a large number of top military commanders and nuclear scientists while also incapacitating some air defences and hitting missile launch sites in an effort to limit Iran’s retaliation.

Huge cyberattacks launched by pro-Israel hacking groups also temporarily took down two of the country’s biggest banks, as well as the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

An undated video circulated by state-linked media this week showed Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the assassinated head of the critical aerospace division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), saying during a speech that “we are all under surveillance” by Mossad through mobile phones and other communications devices.

Hajizadeh, who was killed while holding a meeting with a host of other top aerospace commanders in an underground bunker in or around Tehran, urged others to exercise caution and turn off and periodically replace their mobile phones during the speech.

As part of their response to the Israeli offensive, Iranian authorities also cut off internet access, at one point choking off 97 percent of the massive country’s connectivity, according to NetBlocks internet observatory. It was one of the most comprehensive internet blackouts ever imposed in Iran – and likely anywhere else in the world.

The restrictions imposed during the war were mostly lifted by Thursday, two days after a ceasefire announced by Trump took effect.

Israel has acknowledged being hit by more than 50 missiles during the 12-day war with Iran, but the true extent of the damage may never be known due to stringent press restrictions.

Such regulations are nothing new in Israel, where any written or visual publication deemed potentially harmful to the loosely defined concept of “national security” can be banned by law.

Censorship predates the creation of Israel in 1948, when the territory was under a British mandate.

But with the recent missile barrages from Iran that managed to breach Israel’s vaunted air defences and kill 28 people, the restrictions were further tightened.

Any broadcast from a “combat zone or missile impact site” requires written authorisation from the military censor, according to the Israeli Government Press Office, which is responsible for government communications and for accrediting journalists.

This requirement is particularly stringent when strikes land near military bases, oil refineries, or other facilities deemed strategic.

“There is, of course, a very real national security dimension. You don’t want to tell the enemy exactly where its bombs landed, or help them improve targeting,” said Jerome Bourdon, professor of media sociology at Tel Aviv University.

“But this also maintains uncertainty around the country’s vulnerability to external threats. We probably will never know the full extent of the damage,” he added.

Most of the government’s communication during the war focused on its military successes, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday praising a “historic victory” over Iran.

For Bourdon, the tightening of media coverage also reflects “a very clear desire to reverse the narrative”, at a time when Israel faces harsh international criticism over its war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands and triggered dire humanitarian conditions.

On June 19, Defence Minister Israel Katz accused Tehran of “deliberately targeting hospitals and residential buildings” after a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba was hit, injuring around 40 people.

Katz accused Iran of “the most serious war crimes”, while Iran denied intentionally targeting the health centre.

Meanwhile, human rights defenders regularly condemn Israel’s destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza and the targeting of hospitals under the claim that they are used by Palestinian militants.

During the war with Iran, media coverage near sites of missile strikes in Israel’s civilian areas was occasionally hindered, as foreign reporters were prevented from filming wide shots or specifying the exact location of the impacts.

In the central Israeli city of Ramat Gan, police interrupted the live broadcast of two Western news agencies filming a gutted building, suspecting them of providing the footage to Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Israel banned the outlet in May 2024, alleging it has ties with Palestinian militant group Hamas, which Al Jazeera has denied.

In a statement, police said they had acted to stop the broadcast of “illegal content” in accordance with the “policy” of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The far-right cabinet member, known for his incendiary rhetoric against critics, vowed on June 16 to take tough action against anyone who “undermines the security of the state”.

“Zero tolerance for those who help the enemy,” echoed Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.

The two ministers “make claims that exceed the legal framework of their powers, and also are very, very extreme,” said Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute.

“Usually, they make a lot of noise” in order to “get political gain from this publicity,” she told AFP.

Beyond political calculations, “these officials show a deep mistrust, a real hostility toward the liberal Israeli media, and especially toward the foreign media,” said professor Bourdon.

The Government Press Office on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to “freedom of the press… as a fundamental right” and insisted it makes “no distinction between Israeli and non-Israeli journalists”.

Constitutional panel ratifies bill to cease cooperation with IAEA after US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iran’s Guardian Council has ratified a parliament-approved legislation to suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, after the war with Israel and the United States.

Iranian news outlets reported on Thursday that the appointed council, which has veto power over bills approved by lawmakers, found the parliament’s measure to “not to be in contradiction to the Islamic principles and the Constitution”.

Guardian Council spokesperson Hadi Tahan Nazif told the official state news agency, IRNA, that the government is now required to suspend cooperation with the IAEA for the “full respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Nazif added that the decision was prompted by the “attacks … by the Zionist regime and the United States against peaceful nuclear facilities”.

The bill will be submitted to President Masoud Pezeshkian for final approval and would allow Iran “to benefit from all the entitlements specified under … the Non-Proliferation Treaty, especially with regard to uranium enrichment”, Nazif said.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf suggested that the legislation is now binding after the Guardian Council’s approval.

“Continued cooperation with the agency, which plays a role as a protector of anti-human interests and an agent of the illegitimate Zionist regime through the pretext of war and aggression, is not possible until the security of our nuclear facilities is ensured,” Ghalibaf said in a social media post.

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However, the IAEA said on Thursday that it had not received an official communication from Iran regarding the suspension.

Iranian officials have been decrying the IAEA’s failure to condemn Israeli attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities.

Before the war started, Tehran claimed to have obtained Israeli documents that show that the IAEA was passing off information to Israel about Iran’s nuclear programme – allegations that were denied by the agency.

Israel is widely believed to have its own nuclear arsenal, but its nuclear programme has not been monitored by the UN watchdog.

For years, Iranian nuclear sites have been under strict IAEA inspection, including by constant video feed. But it appears that Iran moved its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium from the facilities before they were bombed by Israel and the US during the recent war, putting them out of the view of UN observers for the first time.

US and Israeli officials have argued that the military strikes have set back Iran’s nuclear programme for years. But suspending cooperation with the IAEA could escalate the programme, although Tehran insists that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied on Thursday that Tehran was considering returning to nuclear negotiations with the US after five rounds of indirect meetings before Israel attacked.

“Some speculations about the resumption of negotiations should not be taken seriously,” Araghchi said on state television.

“I would like to state clearly that no agreement, arrangement or conversation has been made to start new negotiations. No plan has been set yet to start negotiations,” he added.

The top diplomat said the damages from Israeli and US attacks to its nuclear sites “were not little” and that authorities were still figuring out what their new nuclear programme would look like, which would inform Tehran’s future diplomatic stance.

Araghchi also hit out at IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, saying that his refusal to denounce the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities proves his “biased stance”.

Moscow, Tehran’s ally, voiced concern on Thursday over the prospect of Iran suspending cooperation with the UN agency.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was “interested in Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA continuing”.

“We are interested in everyone respecting the supreme leader of Iran, who has repeatedly stated that Iran does not and will not have plans to create nuclear weapons,” Lavrov said.

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German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also told journalists that Berlin “urges the Iranian government not to go down this path” and cease cooperation with the board.

On June 13, Israel launched a surprise bombing campaign against Iran, striking residential buildings and nuclear sites and military facilities, killing top commanders and scientists as well as hundreds of civilians.

Iran responded with barrages of missiles that left widespread destruction in Israel and killed at least 29 people.

On Sunday, the US joined Israel and launched unprecedented strikes on Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites.

Following Iran’s retaliatory attack on a US military base in Qatar, a ceasefire was reached between the countries.

Both Israel and Iran declared victory after the war.

At least 610 Iranians were killed in Israeli attacks, while 28 people in Israel were killed in Iranian counterattacks.

An intense 12‑day conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on June 13, 2025, after Israel launched air strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, killing key nuclear scientists and military commanders.

More than 200 Israeli fighter jets hit more than 100 nuclear and military facilities along with residential neighbourhoods across Iran.

Iran retaliated with hundreds of ballistic missiles against Israeli cities. In the days that followed, Israel and Iran traded missiles as casualties mounted on both sides.

The United States entered the military clash on June 22 with bunker-buster strikes on Iran’s Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan nuclear facilities.

A fragile ceasefire was brokered by the US on June 24, hours after Iran had fired missiles at its largest airbase in the Middle East, based in Qatar.

How many people were affected in Iran?

According to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education, thousands of people were injured, hundreds were killed, and public infrastructure was damaged.

As of June 24:

• Total injured: 4,746, including 185 women

• Total people killed: 610, including 49 women and 13 children. The youngest was two months old.

• Injured healthcare workers: 20

• Healthcare workers killed: 5

• Damaged ambulances: 9

• Damaged hospitals: 7

• Damaged health units: 4

• Damaged emergency bases: 6

In Iran, as the bombardment began, thousands of Iranians tried to flee the capital and other major cities towards northern provinces bordering the Caspian Sea.

Nearly nine million people headed out in cars from the major cities, especially Tehran.

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Among them was Zein*.

Zein, 34, says he left his home in Tehran and headed to Kelardasht in Mazandaran province, north of the capital, on the Caspian Sea coast. The road trip took nearly 16 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic out of the city.

“In our area, there are many military zones nearby. Because of the warnings they had given, we didn’t feel safe or have peace of mind,” he says. “I think Tehran felt very panicked, and we were just thinking about getting ourselves out of Tehran and reaching somewhere where we could feel more secure.”

Unlike his parents’ generation, who lived through the devastation of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, this was Zein’s first time experiencing such intense military conflict.

“The fear of not knowing whether you’ll ever return to your home or not. Whether your home will still be there or not. You have to leave your city with a thousand worries, and in such a terrifying situation, because of the roads, the traffic, and the lack of management, you somehow have to get yourself to safety,” he says.

“And there’s no support – you have to figure everything out on your own.”

How widespread were the attacks on Iran by Israel?

According to Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency, Israel and the US launched at least 145 air strikes on Iran.

The actual count may be much higher, as another source, the Armed Conflict Location and Event data (ACLED) tabulated at least 508 air strikes by Israeli forces on Iran.

How did Iran retaliate and attack Israel?

According to ACLED, Iran attacked Israel at least 120 times. These strikes included ballistic missiles and drones. Many were intercepted with US help and some hit residential areas.

Iran mainly targeted Tel Aviv and areas around it, and one of the significant hits was the Soroka Medical Center – a strike that injured dozens. Among other targets were the Israeli Military Intelligence School, the Ministry of Interior in Haifa, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and an oil refinery and power plants.

According to the Israeli military, Iran launched up to 1,000 ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, and about 90 percent were intercepted.

How many people were affected in Israel?

According to Israel’s Ministry of Health, as of June 24, the number of people killed and injured across Israel was:

Total injured/hospitalised: 3,238

Total people killed: 28

The Iranian missiles and drones that were able to make it past Israel’s interceptors mainly struck neighbourhoods in Tel Aviv and Haifa, where there was damage to apartment buildings.

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Many residents affected by the Iranian strikes from Tel Aviv to Haifa were able to escape into bomb shelters.

According to the Reuters news agency, many families with safe rooms spent most of the 12 days there, while others would use public shelters whenever an alert was raised.

*Name changed to protect the identity, at Zein’s request.