https://arab.news/8v46p
- Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse served as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency
- The agency's preliminary assessment after US strikes on Iran found that its nuclear program had been set back only a few months
WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired a general on Friday whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and a White House official.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The firing comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media. It found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the US strikes, contradicting assertions from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a news conference following the June strikes, Hegseth lambasted the press for what he claimed was an anti-military bias but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of Iranian nuclear production facilities.