The ceasefire to the 12-day war in the Middle East announced by US President Donald Trump even before Iran and Israel were on board seems to be holding but in a tense environment.

After the B-2s unleashed 30,000 pounders on Iranian nuclear sites, it was the turn of the American President to drop the “F” bomb to make sure the warring parties stay with the truce.

In language that is now understood by the whole world, a visibly irritated Trump on reports of ceasefire violations said: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they are doing”.

That “F” bomb seems to have worked as Tel Aviv and Tehran soon announced that they will abide by the truce as long as the other does not violate it, an old standard for warring parties.

Leaked report

But soon Trump and his senior aides had to deal with a leaked classified report of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) that essentially made the point that the B-2 strikes on nuclear sites hardly came anywhere near the “obliteration” that the President had spoke about and his top officials like the Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth repeated.

According to CNN, the American strikes on three nuclear sites of Iran did not destroy the core components of Iran’s nuclear program but only set it back by months. The reporting was based on an initial assessment of the DIA and described by seven people who had been briefed. “… the early findings are at odds with President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the strikes ‘completely and totally obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities”, CNN reported. It went on to point out one source saying that the centrifuges are largely “intact” with another maintaining that the intelligence assessment was that the enriched uranium was moved out prior to the American hits.

The response of the White House has been along expected fiery lines. “This alleged assessment is flat out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low level loser in the intelligence community. The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to CNN.

And what could raise further questions on the efficacy of American strikes at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan is the statement of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine that while damage assessment is still going on, it is “way too early” to comment if Iran still retains nuclear capabilities.

Raised eyebrows

In a town where political inferences get ahead of reason at times, the cancellation of classified briefings to committee members of House of Representatives and Senate and a general briefing to all House law makers soon found itself wading into the intelligence findings.

“Trump just cancelled a classified House briefing on the Iran strikes with zero explanation. The real reason? He claims he destroyed ‘all nuclear facilities and capability’; his team knows they can’t back up his bluster and BS”, said Democrat of New York Pat Ryan on X. The classified sessions with law makers had been pushed to Thursday from Tuesday.

For a person who basically distrusts his intelligence community — the latest being in his disagreement with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard over Iran — it is unlikely that Trump will be bothered by the DIA assessment or of its reporting by CNN which will be brushed off as “fake news”.

But it does concern some serious analysts who worry about a ceasefire that has been forced down without ascertaining the whereabouts of hundreds of centrifuges or of the status of some 400 kg of enriched uranium.

That undoubtedly leaves Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to carry on with his strikes now that his prodding of the US to using bunker busters may not have delivered the desired results.

The writer is a senior journalist who has reported from Washington DC on North America and United Nations

Published on June 25, 2025