Intercepted call of Iranian officials downplays damage of U.S. attack

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/06/29/trump-iran-nuclear-damage-intercepted-call/

The officials were heard saying Trump’s strike on Iran proved less devastating than expected. The administration calls the intelligence insignificant.

The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected, said four people familiar with the classified intelligence circulating within the U.S. government.

The Trump administration did not dispute the existence of the intercepted communication, which has not been previously reported, but strenuously disagreed with the Iranians’ conclusions and cast doubt on their ability to assess the damage at the three nuclear facilities targeted in the U.S. operation.

Analysts broadly agree that the strikes involved immense U.S. firepower, including 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles, that severely damaged the nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. But the extent of the destruction and how long it may take Iran to rebuild has been hotly debated amid reports that Iran moved its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium before the strike and that the explosions sealed off the entrance to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings.