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The Republicans of the Senate repelled a disclosed report according to which the president Donald Trump Iran strikes did not erase the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, but always wanted more information on the full extent of the damage to key installations.
An assessment of largely reported “low confidence” of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) suggested that weekend strikes, baptized from Operation Midnight Hammer, did not completely destroy the nuclear capacities of Iran.
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President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at the end of the NATO summit as a foreign secretary Marco Rubio, on the right, and the defense secretary Pete Hegseth in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP photo / Alex Brandon)
Trump remained firm that the sites were “completely erased” and that the White House greatly postponed the report. And both Israeli And Iranian Governments agree that the sites have been seriously damaged.
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee told Fox News Digital that they were confident in the President’s evaluation and go back to the Dia conclusions.
“First of all, one of the things I would consider is that Dia said that Ukraine would be destroyed in three days,” said the senator. Kevin CramerRN.D., told Fox News Digital. “And secondly, whatever the damage to Fordow, damage to [nuclear] Iran’s capacities are devastating. “”
Senator Roger Wicker talks about the press on January 11, 2024 in Washington. (Anna Rose Layden / Getty Images)
Cramer said that the effectiveness of the bombing, which had been carried out by several B-2 bombers armed with bunker bombs, could not be “overestimated” and warned that the persistent questions surrounding the effectiveness of the operation were only “the fodder for a political discussion”.
“I think the mission has been accomplished,” he said.
Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Roger WickerR-Miss., Had not yet read the report, but called the conclusion of DIA and the reports that followed “false”. Wicker’s feeling came right after the Senate Republicans met behind closed doors with the Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter.
“We have just spoken to the Israeli ambassador to the United States a few moments ago, and his evaluation is that their capacity has been destroyed for years,” said Wicker.
Senator Mike Rounds, RS.D., told Fox News Digital that he had seen all the evidence and that there was not “an inconsistency” between the claims of the president and the documents he had seen. (Getty Images)
However, how damaged nuclear installations are, in particular the Fordow fuel enrichment plant buried deeply under the layers of rock, is a question that legislators want to answer and believe only from a real evaluation boots on the ground.
Senators are expected to receive a briefing Thursday afternoon from Trump officials on strikes and expect to learn more about the real extent of the damage.
Senator Mike Rounds, Rs.d., told Fox News Digital that he had seen all the evidence and that there was no “inconsistency” between the president’s claims and the documents he had seen.
He said that the briefing would allow legislators “a chance of several sources to glean what is in fact deep below”, but noted that until clearer information is available, the absolute confirmation of the total damage caused by the bombs was not finished.
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The question of whether another strike should be authorized should show more information than the program has not been completely destroyed, Rounds said: “Another strike depends on what other options would be.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever removed something from the table for the president, but there could also be other ways to manage it, because we have really opened this place now,” he said.
