CIA director John Ratcliffe in a statement said that new intelligence from a "historically reliable" source indicated that "several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years."
Hello and welcome to the Guardian's continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
Donald Trump's administration has cited "new intelligence" to support its initial claim of complete success of the US's weekend attacks on Iran while criticising a leaked intelligence assessment that suggested Tehran's nuclear programme had been set back by only a few months.
The growing row came amid reports that the White House will try to limit the sharing of classified documents with Congress.
"This was a devastating attack, and it knocked them for a loop," Trump said on Wednesday, apparently backing away from comments he'd made earlier in the day that the intelligence was "inconclusive".
The claim comes after the US president hit back at a leaked intelligence report that said US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities had likely only set back the country's nuclear programme by a few months.
Trump had earlier criticised CNN and the New York Times for their reports on the leaked intelligence assessment, claiming they had teamed up to "demean one of the most successful military strikes in history", and declared Iran's nuclear sites were "completely destroyed". The White House earlier called the intelligence assessment "flat-out wrong".
In other key developments:
- US senators are also set to meet with top national security officials on Thursday as many question President Donald Trump's decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites -- and whether those strikes were ultimately successful. The classified briefing, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday and was delayed, also comes as the Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution that would require congressional approval if Trump decides to strike Iran again.
- Donald Trump has weighed in on ally Benjamin Netanyahu's long-running corruption trial, saying in a social media post that the trial was a "witch hunt" and should be cancelled. "Bibi and I just went through HELL together, fighting a very tough and brilliant longtime enemy of Israel, Iran, and Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land," Trump said on Wednesday night, using a nickname for the Israeli leader.
- US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Politico on Wednesday that Iran is "much further away from a nuclear weapon" after a US strike on Iran's three main nuclear sites over the weekend.
- There is a chance that much of Iran's highly enriched uranium survived Israeli and US attacks because it may have been moved by Tehran soon after the first strikes, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.
- Trump said the US will hold talks with Iran next week, with a possible agreement on the table about Tehran's nuclear programme.
- The US president said that Israel and Iran are "tired" but the conflict between the two countries could start again.
- Speaking alongside the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Trump compared the US strikes on Iran to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, saying: "This was essentially the same thing: that ended that war; this ended the war."
- Mark Rutte defended Donald Trump's swearing outburst on Tuesday when commenting on the Israel-Iran war. "Daddy sometimes has to use strong language," Rutte told reporters.
- France is conducting its own analysis on damage to Iran's nuclear facilities after US and Israeli strikes, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Wednesday.
- Iranian authorities are pivoting from a ceasefire with Israel to intensify an internal security crackdown across the country with mass arrests, executions and military deployments particularly in the restive Kurdish region according to officials and activists.
- Iran's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog state-affiliated news outlet Nournews reported. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf was quoted by state media as saying Iran would accelerate its civilian nuclear programme.