New York Times Backtracks: US Strikes ‘Destroyed’ Iran’s Nuke Site Capabilities, Could Take ‘Years To Rebuild’

The New York Times reported Friday that U.S. air strikes in June “badly damaged and potentially destroyed” three Iranian nuclear weapons facilities.

Further, facilities at two of the sites that would be needed to fabricate nuclear weapons were “destroyed and could take years to rebuild, U.S. officials said.”

That is quite a difference from news coverage two days after the strikes, when the left-leaning outlet ran a story headlined, “Strike Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by Only a Few Months, U.S. Report Says.”

The piece was based on information leaked to the outlet from a Defense Intelligence Agency’s early assessment, which analysts made, they noted, with low confidence.

But the New York Times grabbed onto the report to build a narrative that Trump’s strikes had been largely unsuccessful.

Its reporters waited until 15 paragraphs into their story to inform readers, “Officials cautioned that the five-page classified report was only an initial assessment, and that others would follow as more information was collected and as Iran examined the three sites.

“One official said that the reports people in the administration had been shown were ‘mixed’ but that more assessments were yet to be done.”

Those are some pretty key facts that should have been right up front.

President Donald Trump and administration officials pushed back on the reporting by the New York Times and CNN, at the time, with the president asserting the sites were “obliterated,” while others, like CIA Director John Ratcliffe, said the whole nuclear program was “severely damaged.”

My statement confirming CIA intelligence which contradicts illegally sourced public reporting regarding the destruction of key Iranian nuclear facilities. pic.twitter.com/Ln3b4hfELc

— CIA Director John Ratcliffe (@CIADirector) June 25, 2025

U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi sided more with the Trump administration’s view, saying, at the time, “I think that annihilated is too much. But it has suffered enormous damage.” He added, “There is very, very, very considerable damage.”

He further stated that the centrifuges at the Fordow site are no longer operational, given the size of the strike and the equipment’s extreme sensitivity.

New @Maxar images from June 22 show large craters above Iran’s Fordow facility after U.S. strikes, with grey-blue ash covering the area.

A $2 billion site, 19 years in the making, gone in a split second. pic.twitter.com/yMdGvhO0vV

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 22, 2025

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quoted Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Effi Defrin, who said, “I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can also say that we set it back by years, I repeat, years.”

Hegseth then pointed to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, who said, “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure.”

.@PeteHegseth just ripped the media over the RUMINT report saying the Iran strikes were unsuccessful

They ran with one low confidence politically driven report
Against the opinions of pretty much everyone else
UN Atomic Energy Agency
The rest of the US IC
Israel
It’s wicked pic.twitter.com/luY2bm2CBp

— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) June 26, 2025

The New York Times titled Friday’s report, “New Assessment Finds Site at Focus of U.S. Strikes in Iran Badly Damaged.”

“Iran’s deeply buried nuclear enrichment plant at Fordo was badly damaged, and potentially destroyed, by the 12 massive bombs that U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers dropped on it last month, according to a new American intelligence assessment,” the outlet said.

Further, “The new assessment helps create a clearer picture of what the combined Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran achieved. The bombings deeply damaged Fordo — considered by the Iranians to be their best-protected and most advanced nuclear enrichment site — probably crippling Iran’s ability to make nuclear fuel for years to come.”

The Times added, “Two other nuclear sites targeted in the U.S. attacks were not as badly damaged, but facilities at the sites that would be key to fabricating a nuclear weapon were destroyed and could take years to rebuild, U.S. officials said.”

Well, look at this. From NYT: ‘Iran’s deeply buried nuclear enrichment plant at Fordo was badly damaged, and potentially destroyed, by the 12 massive bombs that U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers dropped on it last month, according to a new American intelligence assessment. Two other…

— Byron York (@ByronYork) July 18, 2025

The paper did offer some criticism, quoting those who said there should have been “waves” of attacks for days to really make sure the sites were obliterated, but overall, the New York Times has come around to Trump officials’ June assessments of the major impact of the strikes.

Better late than never.

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