US Worked On Plan To Destroy Iran's Fordow For 15 Years, But European Intel Says Uranium Stockpile Was Moved

During a Pentagon press conference, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized the mainstream media for their coverage of the Trump-ordered attacks on Iran's nuclear sites, accusing them of bias and not wanting to give Trump a "win". Hegseth praised Trump's leadership and claimed that the strikes had achieved a "historic change in continental security". He pushed back against CNN's reporting that the strikes had only set back Iran's nuclear program by months, citing intelligence assessments that showed the attacks had been successful. Hegseth read aloud the assessments of various US and foreign intelligence heads, emphasizing that the president had "created the conditions to end the war" and had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities. The press conference also included a detailed narrative of the experiences of troops in the Middle East during the Iranian retaliatory missile strike. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine provided detailed information about the 30,000-pound bombs dropped on the Iranian sites, stating that they had "functioned as designed" and had exploded as intended. Caine also emphasized that the Joint Force does not do battle damage assessments, but rather relies on the intelligence community for such assessments. The Pentagon has been working on the operation to take out the Fordow site for 15 years, with two analysts devoting a decade and a half of their lives to studying the site. Despite Trump's claims that the uranium stockpile was destroyed, European capitals believe that the stockpile remains largely intact and was not concentrated at Fordow at the time of the attack.