Welcome to the NewsHour. President Trump again forcefully defended his conclusion that the bombing

he ordered of Iranian nuclear facilities, quote, obliterated them. And to further support the

president's position, CIA director John Ratcliffe released a statement late this afternoon

affirming the administration's claims about the effectiveness of the strikes, saying the agency's

assessment, quote, includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source

slash method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be

rebuilt over the course of years. Nick Schifrin again reports from the Hague tonight to start our coverage.

Tonight as the intelligence community examines the aftermath of dozens of Tomahawk missile hits,

bunker buster bomb craters and Israel's 12-day campaign in Iran, President Trump insisted the intelligence

proves his case. We've collected additional intelligence. We've also spoken to people, have seen the site,

and the site is obliterated. He revealed Israeli agents reached Iran's Fordo Enrichment Site,

buried deep inside a mountain to conclude the U.S. strikes, quote, destroyed the site's critical

infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. U.S. strikes, quote, destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and

rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. U.S. officials describe new intelligence, not just

from the damage to facilities capable of creating weapons-grade nuclear fuel, but also the

sites capable of converting that fuel into the form needed to produce a weapon, and capable of converting

uranium into metal fitted with explosives had been destroyed. So in Esfahan, there was this conversion

site, which is how you turn this metal into something that's useful. That's wiped out. Two officials

told PBS NewsHour an initial defense intelligence agency assessment concluded

the U.S. bombs dropped on Fordo, did not obliterate the site, and Iran could gain access

to it eventually.

That's a conclusion echoed today by UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Rafael Grossi.

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