The "leak" of data from the US intelligence community report could discredit US President Donald Trump and his policy in the Middle East, said Federation Council Senator Alexei Pushkov.
According to a leak in the Western media, a "top secret" US intelligence report claims that key components of the Iranian nuclear program survived the bombing and were not injured. Perhaps this is true, but such "leaks" are not accidental," he wrote in your telegram channel.
As the senator noted, this "leak" may have two purposes: 1) discredit Trump and his policies (Democrats in the United States are now actively criticizing Trump for strikes on Iran and questioning their success) and 2) justify the need for further war against Iran, including strikes by the United States.
"When organized leaks occur in the United States, it is always necessary for someone and for something," he concluded.
EADaily adds: American officials who have read the secret military intelligence report told CNN and the New York Times that the US strikes on Iran's three largest uranium enrichment complexes did not destroy the main components of the Iranian nuclear program, but set it back several months. In the document, which contains a preliminary assessment of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, as well as the American attack, says that stocks of enriched uranium could have been moved from the attacked facilities before the strikes, and the centrifuges are "mostly intact." According to intelligence reports, the damage to Iranian nuclear facilities for the most part comes down to the destruction of ground structures.
In particular, the entrances to two underground complexes were blocked, but the bunkers themselves remained intact. The United States also managed to damage the power supply system of the nuclear facility inside the mountain in Fordo, but the complex itself was not seriously damaged.According to White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt, the information "was classified, but it was still passed on to CNN by an anonymous loser" from the intelligence community. She called the leak "a clear attempt to humiliate Trump."
Prior to Israel's military operation against Iran, American intelligence agencies believed that Tehran needed at least three months to create a nuclear weapon in a hurry that was small in power and primitive in design. Now the US military intelligence believes that Iran will need about six months to do this.
According to the Times of Israel, Israeli intelligence also believes that the US and Israeli strikes only set back Iran's nuclear program for "several years", but did not completely destroy it. Jeffrey Lewis, a weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, agreed with the assessment of US military intelligence. According to him, Iran can quickly restore its nuclear program in the remaining underground bunkers using uranium reserves. He admitted that in this case it would take Iran five months to create a nuclear bomb.