Hegseth rubbishes US TV channels’ claims of Iran strikes failure
WASHINGTON: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said some American TV channels were airing fabricated news about the failure of US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The critics do not want to see President Donald Trump to succeed, he added.
He also stated that only the successful US strikes ensured a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, a stance which Trump had shared a day earlier in The Hague.
However, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday said that “nothing significant” occurred to nuclear sites struck by the United States earlier this week, during a war with Israel.
“They attacked our nuclear facilities, which of course would merit criminal prosecution in international courts, but they did nothing significant,” he remarked.
Addressing a press conference at Pentagon, Hegseth again reiterated the stance that they had completely destroyed the nuclear sites targeted in in Iran.
On the occasion, the defence secretary, who was accompanied by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, also shared visual and other proof to substantiate the official stance.
He said Trump had ordered to carry out the most complicated and difficult military operation in history, which was aimed at ending the Iran-Israel war.
To argue his case, Hegseth also cited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which, he said, had confirmed damage to the Iranian sites.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson too had admitted damage to the the country’s nuclear facilities.
CNN STARTED ALL THIS
It is the CNN which started the latest controversy, after it reported that the US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities were not a success.
The US strikes, according to the CNN, did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear programme and likely only set it back by months.
It’s reporting is based upon to an early US intelligence assessment.
DOES IT MATTER?
It surely matters because Trump is the view that the US strikes end the war and he has openly talked about dialogue with Iran. He is also ready to give relief to Tehran by saying that China can buy the Iranian oil and Tehran can use the money for the country’s reconstruction.
As Trump promoting himself as a man of peace, any claims that negate his position are politically damaging to him. Moreover, some people are saying that the warmongers in the US are not happy with the Iran-Israel ceasefire.
Therefore, the reports about the failure of US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities will make it very difficult, if not impossible, for Trump to make any progress in talks with Iran.