U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday that the FBI has launched a formal leak investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of a classified intelligence assessment regarding the recent U.S. airstrike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The leak, first reported by CNN, revealed that a preliminary analysis by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) suggested the bombing campaign may have set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months — a conclusion sharply disputed by top officials.
The operation, known as Midnight Hammer, involved the deployment of fourteen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs targeting three of Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment sites, including the heavily fortified Fordow facility. The strike, coordinated over several days, was portrayed by the White House and Pentagon as a tactical success that delivered precision hits and neutralized key infrastructure.
According to Hegseth, the leaked report was “preliminary” and characterized by “low confidence,” and he questioned the motives behind its release. “Any assessment that tells you something otherwise is speculating with other motives,” Hegseth said at a press briefing. “It was a flawless mission… and we believe, far more likely, [that the impact was] severe and obliterated.”
He added that the document in question was strictly for internal battle damage assessment purposes and accused the media of distorting its contents. “Of course, we’re doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now,” he said. “CNN and others are trying to spin it to make the president look bad when this was an overwhelming success.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed that criticism, blasting the leak as a politically motivated attempt to undermine President Trump and U.S. military personnel. “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program,” Leavitt wrote on X. She called the source an “anonymous, low-level loser” and asserted, “Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
Notably, the U.S. assessment leaked to CNN appears to conflict with findings from Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, which reportedly concluded that the strikes rendered Iran’s Fordow site inoperable and inflicted substantial damage across the targeted facilities. Israeli officials told CNN they believe the operation set Iran’s nuclear capabilities back by at least two years, assuming uninterrupted reconstruction — a scenario they say they will not allow.
Former IDF General Amir Avivi noted that rebuilding such a program would cost Iran “hundreds of billions of dollars,” adding that the regime lacks the resources to do so.
At the NATO summit in the Netherlands, President Trump touted the mission as a milestone in global nuclear deterrence and was privately congratulated by the organization’s chair for achieving what “no one else dared to do.” Trump has maintained that the strike was a show of strategic resolve and strength, rather than a precursor to extended conflict.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Politico that the U.S. “is not looking for a war with Iran,” emphasizing the limited scope and defined objective of the operation. “We flew halfway across the world, dropped these weapons on three key sites, pulled away and we were done,” Rubio said. “It showed a tremendous amount of strategic patience by the president.”