--- title: Senators Unconvinced of Effectiveness of U.S. Strikes on Iran description: Several Democrats said intelligence presented at a classified briefing with top Trump Administration officials contradicted the White House’s sweeping claims of success. canonical: https://time.com/7298188/iran-strikes-classified-briefing-senators/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-06-26T22:24:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T01:21:33.637Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senators Unconvinced of Effectiveness of U.S. Strikes on Iran og:description: Several Democrats said a classified briefing with top Administration officials contradicted the White House’s claims. og:url: https://time.com/7298188/iran-strikes-classified-briefing-senators/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf25346ef5a6cb644/6998c7d71500fb7b4caa6638/GettyImages-2222314325.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: Senators Attend Closed-Door Briefing On Iran og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senators Unconvinced of Effectiveness of U.S. Strikes on Iran twitter:description: Several Democrats said a classified briefing with top Administration officials contradicted the White House’s claims. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf25346ef5a6cb644/6998c7d71500fb7b4caa6638/GettyImages-2222314325.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senators Leave Classified Briefing Unconvinced U.S. Strikes Obliterated Iran’s Nuclear Program > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=fb27cbf9-ef91-4e35-975e-58829bae2ebf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=fb27cbf9-ef91-4e35-975e-58829bae2ebf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=fb27cbf9-ef91-4e35-975e-58829bae2ebf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jun 26, 2025 10:24 PM UTC  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth departs a classified briefing to Senators after the U.S. bombing in Iran on June 26, 2025. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth departs a classified briefing to Senators after the U.S. bombing in Iran on June 26, 2025. Joe Raedle–Getty Images  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jun 26, 2025 10:24 PM UTC Senators emerged from a classified briefing with top Trump Administration officials on Thursday still sharply divided over the effectiveness of last weekend’s [U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities](https://time.com/7296469/u-s-strikes-iran-nuclear-trump-war/), with several Democrats saying the intelligence presented contradicted the White House’s sweeping claims of success. While President Donald Trump has claimed that the strikes “completely and fully obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, multiple Democratic senators said the classified assessments they received suggested a more limited impact—one that would potentially set Iran’s program back by months, not years. “There’s no doubt there was damage done to the program, but the allegations that we have obliterated their program just don’t seem to stand up to reason,” said Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut. “To me, it still appears that we have only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a handful of months.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York added: “There was no coherent strategy, no end game, no specific, detailed plan on how Iran does not attain a nuclear weapon.” “President Trump said that the nuclear stockpile was completely and totally obliterated,” he said. “I did not receive an adequate answer to that question.” But Republicans emerged from the same briefing more optimistic. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas called the strike a “major blow,” citing what he described as catastrophic hits to Iran’s centrifuge infrastructure, uranium conversion facilities, and underground bunkers. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Iran had “never been this weak,” though he warned the mission was not the final chapter. “I don’t want the American people to think that this is over,” he said. “It is not over until the regime decides to change their attitude and their behavior.” The private briefing, delivered by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, came five days after American B-2 bombers joined Israel in a joint mission to destroy three key Iranian nuclear sites—including the Fordo facility buried deep under a mountain. Trump has described the strikes as a historic success taken in “collective self-defense” of Israel and vital U.S. interests. However, a preliminary intelligence assessment leaked to CNN and The New York _Times_ earlier this week undercut that narrative. The report, compiled by the Defense Intelligence Agency, found that Iran’s program had likely been delayed only several months—not “eliminated,” as Trump has claimed. Administration officials have sharply condemned the leak, and signaled that access to classified systems would be restricted. On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe both sent out statements backing Trump’s claims that the facilities were “completely and fully obliterated.” Ratcliffe said that Iran’s nuclear program has been “severely damaged,” citing new intelligence “from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.” At a Pentagon briefing on Thursday, Hegseth defended the operation as “the most secret and most complex military strike in history.” He did not, however, offer new assessments of the actual damage to Iran’s nuclear program, referring reporters to intelligence agencies. “You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated—choose your word,” Hegseth said. Hegseth also appeared to sidestep questions about whether Iran moved enriched uranium out of the Fordo site before the strike, saying only that he was “not aware” of intelligence suggesting anything was “out of place.” Senator Graham, speaking after the classified briefing, said, “I don’t know where the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists, but it wasn’t part of the target set.” Senator Cotton also acknowledged that eliminating Iran’s uranium stockpile was not the mission’s focus. “It was not part of the mission to destroy all their enriched uranium or to cease it or anything else,” he said. General Caine, in a markedly less political tone than Hegseth, focused his remarks at the Pentagon briefing on the operation’s logistics and execution. He played cockpit video footage and described how seven B-2 bombers flew a 37-hour round-trip mission to drop 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs on the Fordo site. The strikes were aimed at two ventilation shafts that lead to the heart of the underground complex. Iranian forces, anticipating a strike, had attempted to seal the shafts with concrete. Caine said U.S. forces adjusted: One bomb blew off the caps, and the others plunged down the shafts, exploding deep inside and sending shockwaves through the tunnels. But even with that level of precision and coordination, some senators said the Administration had yet to offer a credible explanation for how the strike fits into a broader plan to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “I think ‘obliterated’ is much too strong,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut. “Iran continues to be a threat … And right now we have no final battle damage assessment that would enable us to be comfortable or complacent about what has been done." Senator Murphy went on to accuse Trump of “deliberately misleading the public” by saying Iran’s nuclear facility was obliterated. “The only way to truly constrain Iran's nuclear program is diplomacy,” he said. “You cannot bomb knowledge out of existence no matter how many scientists you kill. There are still people in Iran who know how to work centrifuges, and if they still have enriched uranium and they still have the ability to use centrifuges, then you're not sending back a program by years. You're sending back the program by months.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7298188/iran-strikes-classified-briefing-senators/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7298188/iran-strikes-classified-briefing-senators/"},"headline":"Senators Leave Classified Briefing Unconvinced U.S. Strikes Obliterated Iran’s Nuclear Program","datePublished":"2025-06-26T22:24:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T01:21:33.637Z","description":"Several Democrats said intelligence presented at a classified briefing with top Trump Administration officials contradicted the White House’s sweeping claims of success.","url":"https://time.com/7298188/iran-strikes-classified-briefing-senators/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News desk edits"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf25346ef5a6cb644/6998c7d71500fb7b4caa6638/GettyImages-2222314325.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf25346ef5a6cb644/6998c7d71500fb7b4caa6638/GettyImages-2222314325.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senators Attend Closed-Door Briefing On Iran","caption":"Senators Attend Closed-Door Briefing On Iran","creditText":"Joe Raedle–Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7298188/iran-strikes-classified-briefing-senators/","name":"Senators Leave Classified Briefing Unconvinced U.S. Strikes Obliterated Iran’s Nuclear Program"}}]}] ```