United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran's nuclear programme has been "set back decades", a day after he claimed to have brokered a truce between the Shiite state and Israel.
"They're not going to be building bombs for a long time," said Trump, insisting that US strikes caused 'total obliteration' at Iran nuclear sites.
He also said that the ceasefire between the Jewish nation and the Khamenei-led state was "going very well".
Drawing a parallel between World War II and June 22 US strikes against Iran, Trump said: "That end ended the war. I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war."
Notably, in the Pacific, after intense battles and Japan’s refusal to yield, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered shortly after, bringing the war to an end in 1945.
Speaking on the possibility Iran resuming the enrichment of uranium beyond permitted levels, Trump said: "I think they've had it, they just went through hell... the last thing they want to do is enrich."
Trump also claimed "great progress" has been made in Gaza, suggesting the US strikes on Iran could have a positive impact on West Asia.
Earlier, Trump vehemently rejected news reports suggesting that the recent US strikes on Iran failed to destroy Tehran’s nuclear programme, calling it "FAKE NEWS" and insisting the sites were "completely destroyed".
Posting in all caps on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “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 Times and CNN are getting slammed by the public!”
The CNN report, based on a classified assessment by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, claimed the strikes only temporarily set back Iran’s nuclear programme. It said the attacks failed to fully eliminate centrifuges or enriched uranium stockpiles, with some facilities reportedly sealed off but not destroyed.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged the report’s existence but said it was “flat-out wrong” and “a clear attempt to demean President Trump”.
She added, “Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
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