Trump Ally Defends Iran Strike, Says Fordow Was “Obliterated”
As criticism continues to swirl around the U.S. military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, President Donald Trump is leaning heavily on supportive voices to reaffirm what he calls a decisive and historic operation. On June 25, Trump amplified remarks by real estate developer and political ally Steve Witkoff, who insisted that the Fordow nuclear facility—deep beneath a mountain—was not just hit but completely destroyed.
“We put 12 bunker buster bombs on Fordow. There’s no doubt that it breached the canopy… and there’s no doubt that it was OBLITERATED,” Witkoff said, in a statement Trump reposted on Truth Social.
Fordow: A hardened symbol of Iran’s nuclear ambition
Fordow has long held symbolic and strategic significance in Iran’s nuclear landscape. Built deep underground near the city of Qom, it was originally designed to protect uranium enrichment activities from conventional airstrikes. It was also one of the focal points of IAEA monitoring under the now-defunct JCPOA agreement.
Experts have consistently debated whether a successful breach of Fordow was even feasible without high civilian casualties or wider regional escalation. That’s partly what makes Witkoff’s certainty so striking—and perhaps a bit suspect.
Truth or theater?
There’s still no independent confirmation of the extent of damage inflicted on the Fordow site. U.S. intelligence officials, speaking anonymously to Reuters, indicated that early surveillance imagery shows “significant surface-level disruption,” but declined to verify full-scale destruction. Iran’s state media has so far denied any major damage and released footage of what it claimed were “intact facilities,” though analysts say the authenticity of those images remains unclear.
It’s worth remembering that rhetoric after military operations often follows a well-worn pattern: a bold initial claim, some backpedaling, then a long tail of ambiguous assessments. We saw a version of this after the 2020 Soleimani strike, when both sides framed the event through very different lenses.
Rallying the narrative
For Trump, the narrative control here is not just about military might—it’s about political capital. The Iran strike has become a defining moment of his second term, especially as he seeks to frame himself as the unwavering strongman in a fractious world. And amplifying voices like Witkoff’s—while perhaps unconventional in their expertise—serves that agenda.
Still, the bigger question lingers: If Fordow really was obliterated, why hasn’t the administration released high-res satellite imagery or definitive intelligence assessments? It’s not entirely clear whether the delay is strategic, or just symptomatic of an operation whose results may be less than absolute.
Whatever the case, this moment is far from over. Iran’s response—military, diplomatic, or otherwise—will likely define the next chapter. And as with many things in this presidency, we’re left piecing together fact from assertion in real time.
