U.S. President Donald Trump has likened American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to the end of World War II, claiming the operation ended the Iran-Israel conflict despite intelligence assessments suggesting limited impact.
Speaking at a NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday, President Donald Trump defended the scale and effectiveness of recent U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, calling the damage “very severe” and comparing it to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"The intelligence was ... very inconclusive," Trump said during a joint appearance with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “It was very severe. It was obliteration.”
His remarks follow reports by Reuters and other media outlets that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) believes the strikes may have set Iran’s nuclear programme back by only a few months.
Trump dismissed the report as preliminary and accused the media of undermining the military operation. “It was an attack against our pilots,” he said, referring to news coverage of the DIA’s assessment.
Trump claimed the operation brought an end to the hostilities between Iran and Israel, stating: “When you look at Hiroshima, if you look at Nagasaki, that ended a war, too. This ended a war in a different way.”
The president was joined at the summit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Both echoed Trump’s scepticism of the intelligence community’s evaluation, with Hegseth calling the leaked DIA report “low-confidence” and “politically motivated”.
He also revealed that the FBI is investigating the source of the leak. Rubio, meanwhile, accused those who shared the report of mischaracterising its findings, saying: “This is the game they play.”
The Trump administration has long maintained that Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons. The strikes, though controversial, are being promoted by The White House as evidence of its firm stance.
Trump’s defence of the operation comes amid political pressure from some within his own base who argue that the strikes contradict his “America First” approach.
Still, the administration touted a diplomatic breakthrough at the summit, with NATO members agreeing to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP — a goal the U.S. had pushed for.
In a final statement, Trump cited an Israeli Atomic Energy Commission report claiming Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been pushed back “many years”. He also confirmed that U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to meet next week, though he added that Tehran is unlikely to resume its nuclear programme after the strikes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China next week for talks with President Xi Jinping, to attend a regional security summit, and to appe...
U.S. President Donald Trump has cancelled Secret Service protection for Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President, Kamala Harris acc...
Georgia’s ruling party is pointing to recent remarks by former USAID Administrator Samantha Power as evidence that U.S. aid programs are used to inf...
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Afghanistan is facing a worsening humanitarian and health crisis in 2025, with millions of returni...
A woman pinned beneath concrete, a man with a badly broken leg, a child trapped under the rubble....
All United Nations Security Council members, except the United States, on Wednesday said the famine in Gaza was a “man-made crisis” and warned that the use of starvation as a weapon of war is banned under international humanitarian law.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 26th of August, covering the latest developments you need to know.
China and Russia should jointly safeguard their security and development interests, Chinese President Xi Jinping told the visiting Russian parliament speaker on Tuesday, in their efforts to build a more "equitable" international order.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year when he discussed trade and defence issues with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during a White House visit on Monday.
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China next week for talks with President Xi Jinping, to attend a regional security summit, and to appear as Xi’s “main guest” at a military parade on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the Kremlin announced on Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has cancelled Secret Service protection for Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President, Kamala Harris according to a senior White House official.
Georgia’s ruling party is pointing to recent remarks by former USAID Administrator Samantha Power as evidence that U.S. aid programs are used to influence political regimes abroad. The comments, made during a prank interview, have fueled debate in Tbilisi over sovereignty, NGOs, and foreign funding.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Afghanistan is facing a worsening humanitarian and health crisis in 2025, with millions of returning refugees expected to stretch the country’s already fragile health system.
A woman pinned beneath concrete, a man with a badly broken leg, a child trapped under the rubble.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment