BREAKING: Intel leak exposes Hegseth’s “decimated” Iran claim as a lie
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood at the Pentagon podium and told the world that Iran’s missile program was finished. Obliterated. “Depleted and decimated and almost completely ineffective,” he declared with the confidence of a man who has never been wrong about anything and somehow always is.
There is just one problem. U.S. intelligence says otherwise.
Officials familiar with American intelligence assessments told the Wall Street Journal that Iran still holds thousands of ballistic missiles, many of which can be repaired, repositioned, or pulled from underground storage sites.
While more than half of Iran’s missile launchers have been damaged, destroyed, or trapped underground, a significant portion remain recoverable. Iran still reportedly holds over 1,000 medium-range missiles from a pre-war stockpile of roughly 2,500, according to Israeli officials.
That is not “functionally destroyed.” That is not “decimated.” That is a country that still has a very substantial arsenal.
Hegseth also claimed Iran’s command and control had been so thoroughly dismantled that the country “can’t really talk and coordinate.” The White House echoed his victory lap, insisting all military objectives had been met and that peace negotiations were now proceeding from a position of maximum leverage.
The intelligence community, apparently, did not get that memo.
Pete Hegseth called it a complete win. The leaks say something very different.