APThe Pentagon briefing included a detailed narrative about military tactics and hardware but it did not yield information about how much the US attack setback the Iranian nuclear program.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a Pentagon briefing this afternoon during which he attacked the press over its coverage of the US strikes on Iran. Hegseth, aggressively and bizarrely attacking the press corps, accused the media of 鈥渟pinning鈥 leaked information 鈥渋n every way. He was responding to an early leaked intelligence report suggesting US strikes against Iran likely put the country back mere months.The Pentagon briefing included a detailed narrative about military tactics and hardware but it did not yield information about how much the US attack setback the Iranian nuclear program.Hegseth said they decided to hold Thursday morning鈥檚 news conference because 鈥渢here was a great deal of irresponsible reporting鈥 based on a preliminary intelligence assessment. He criticized 鈥渂iased leaks to biased publications.鈥 鈥淚f you want to know what鈥檚 going on at Fordo, you better go there and get a big shovel,鈥 he said.ALSO READ: Zohran Mamdani at risk of losing US citizenship? Shocking twist as New York鈥檚 mayoral race heats upHegseth hits out at press”Because you cheer against Trump so hard – it鈥檚 in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump, because you want him not to be successful so bad 鈥 you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope that maybe they weren鈥檛 effective,” he said.Live EventsGeneral Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released video of the tests of the type of “bunker-buster” bombs that were dropped on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend. Caine showed the video of a massive bomb striking an underground target at the joint press conference with Hegseth, saying it was the “culmination of over 15 years of development and testing.” “This report acknowledges it’s likely severe damage,” Hegseth said. “Again, this is preliminary, leaked 鈥 because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful.” The Defense Intelligence Agency’s initial assessment, according to a senior DIA official, was considered to be a “preliminary, low confidence assessment.”ALSO READ: New challenge for Elon? Trump-Musk simmering feud has cleared the way for this surprising tech billionaireThere have also been questions about whether Iran was able to move its enriched uranium before the U.S. strikes.Hegseth said he didn鈥檛 think that happened.鈥淚鈥檓 not aware of any intelligence that I鈥檝e reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be 鈥 moved or otherwise,鈥 he said.The Defense Secretary hit out at media outlets for “breathlessly” reporting the DIA assessment, echoing criticism leveled by President Trump. Posting on Truth Social during the press conference, Trump suggested that The New York Times and CNN “will be firing the reporters who made up the FAKE stories on the Iran Nuclear sites because they got it so wrong. Lets see what happens?”Trump and Hegseth have said using multiple 30,000 pound bombs “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear ambitions.(With agency inputs) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
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