Iran-Israel LIVE: Humiliated Donald Trump lashes out after bombshell report on attack
Donald Trump has hit out at a report suggesting that US strikes on Iran did not "completely and fully obliterate" the country's nuclear programme. The US President told reporters on Air Force One that the three nuclear sites targeted in an American attack on the weekend were "perfectly" hit and destroyed - and accused the media of being "very disrespectful" to those involved in the campaign.
He also attacked specific publications in an earlier post on Truth Social, accusing CNN and the New York Times of attempting to "demean one of the most successful military strikes in history".
The report, issued by the Defence Intelligence Agency on Monday, found that while the strikes significantly damaged the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, they were not completely destroyed.
The White House also denied the findings of the report, which appeared to contradict the accounts of both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it "flat-out wrong".
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says he has written to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi following US strikes on the country's nuclear facilities.
"As I have repeatedly stated - before and during the conflict - nuclear facilities should never be attacked due to the very real risk of a serious radiological accident," Grossi said.
“During these attacks, we have seen extensive damage at several nuclear sites in Iran, including its uranium conversion and enrichment facilities. Our assessment is that there has been some localized radioactive as well as chemical release inside the affected facilities that contained nuclear material – mainly uranium enriched to varying degrees – but there has been no report of increased off-site radiation levels."
The director general also stressed the importance of working with Iran and said IAEA inspectors should meet with the the country's government "soon".
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to have held overnight following initial accusations of breaches and frustration from the US.
It marks the first peaceful night in the region since tensions escalated almost a fortnight ago.
After the ceasefire was initially struck on Tuesday, Israel said Iran had violated the deal by continuing strikes after it came into force.
Donald Trump hit out at both countries shortly afterwards, claiming that both Iran and Israel “don’t know what the f*** they’re doing”.
Donald Trump has told reporters on Air Force One that he doesn't want to see regime change in Iran.
"I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible," the US leader said. "Regime change takes chaos, and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos."
Just days ago, Trump seemingly called the future of Iran's ruling theocracy into question - contradicting the assurances of US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that "regime change" was not the purpose of the US strike on Iranian military sites.
"It's not politically correct to use the term 'Regime Change', but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???" the president wrote on Truth Social. "MIGA!!!"
Iran has hanged three men accused of spying for Israel, according to the Mizan news agency.
Idris Ali, Azad Shojai and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul were convicted of working with the Mossan spy agency and trying to smuggle equipment into Iran to "carry out assassinations".
Iran has also arrested 700 people accused of having links to Israel since the conflict began, according to state-affiliated Nour News.
Donald Trump has issued a blistering response to reports about a leaked intelligence report on the US strike on Iran.
The report, issued by the Defence Intelligence Agency, found that Iran's nuclear programme was not "completely and fully obliterated" by the US attack but had only been set back a few months.
Responding to media coverage of the findings, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "FAKE NEWS CNN, TOGETHER WITH THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES, HAVE TEAMED UP IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY. THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! BOTH THE TIIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!"
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the conflict between Iran and Israel.
Keep an eye on this blog for updates as we get them throughout the day.
Daily Express
