Trump denies media reports, says US strikes 'totally destroyed' Iranian targets
US president rejects claims that weekend nuclear facility attacks had limited impact
ISTANBUL
US President Donald Trump on Monday rejected media reports suggesting limited impact from weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, insisting the targets were "totally destroyed."
"The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it," Trump wrote on social media, countering reports that characterized the strikes' effects as limited.
Trump accused news organizations of deliberately minimizing the operation's success, stating: "Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible — And even they say they were 'pretty well destroyed!'"
He accused several US media outlets of spreading fake news, linking this to their them to low ratings and claiming that they have "ZERO CREDIBILITY."
The US over the weekend targeted Iran’s nuclear sites with six bunker-buster bombs dropped on the Fordo facility with B-2 stealth bombers, along with dozens of submarine-launched cruise missile strikes on the Natanz and Isfahan facilities.
Trump previously described the strikes as causing "monumental damage" to Iranian nuclear sites.
Iran has disputed the extent of damage, with the Atomic Energy Organization pledging continued nuclear program development, saying the industry was "built on the blood of nuclear martyrs."
Separately the Iranian Armed Forces announced Monday that they launched "destructive and powerful missile attacks" on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in response to American strikes.
