U.S. President Donald Trump declared Monday that he is neither speaking with Iran nor offering the Islamic Republic anything, contradicting earlier suggestions that negotiations could resume now that the war has subsided.
Trump’s comments, posted to Truth Social, came in response to criticism from Democratic Sen. Chris Coons. “Tell phony Democrat Senator Chris Coons that I am not offering Iran ANYTHING,” Trump wrote,” unlike Obama, who paid them $Billions under the stupid ‘road to a Nuclear Weapon JCPOA (which would now be expired!), nor am I even talking to them since we totally OBLITERATED their Nuclear Facilities.”
In the same post, Trump reiterated his claim that U.S. airstrikes destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, leaving Tehran without a functioning weapons program.
Intelligence officials and nuclear experts have been more cautious, saying the damage may have been extensive but not necessarily irreversible. Many believe the sites could potentially be restored to operational status within a limited timeframe.
On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence had intercepted private conversations among Iranian officials who assessed that the strikes were “less devastating than they had expected.”
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Satellite image of Iran's nuclear facility at Fordow
(Photo: SATELLITE IMAGE ©2025 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / AFP)
The White House swiftly rejected the report, accusing the newspaper of “helping people commit felonies by publishing out-of-context leaks.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added, “The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over.”
At a press briefing Thursday, U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said Trump “directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history — and it was a resounding success,” detailing the strike on Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility.
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Speaking alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Caine did not use the term “obliteration,” but emphasized that the mission succeeded in delivering severe damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
According to Caine, twelve GBU-57 bunker-busting bombs, each weighing over 13 tons, were dropped on Fordow by B-2 stealth bombers. The complex, buried 90 meters into a mountainside, was struck through its air vents—targeted precisely after two initial bombs blasted through layers of reinforced concrete. Five additional bombs were dropped on each of the two exposed points.
The bombs penetrated with a speed exceeding 1,100 kilometers per hour and detonated inside what Caine called the “mission area” of the underground facility. “They went exactly where they were supposed to go,” he said.
One pilot reportedly described the explosion as “the brightest flash I’ve ever seen,” adding that it lit up the night sky “as if it were daylight.”