WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program over the weekend.
“I’m not aware of any intelligence that I’ve reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise,” Hegseth said.
After the strikes, several experts also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of Fordow before the strike early Sunday morning and could be hiding it and other nuclear components in locations unknown to Israel, the US and UN nuclear inspectors.
They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing “unusual activity” at Fordow on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance to the facility. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday most of the near weapons-grade 60 percent highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the US attack. Hegseth’s comments denying those claims came at a news briefing where he accused the media of downplaying the success of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program following a leaked, preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting they may have only set back Iran by months.
Hegseth said the assessment was low confidence, and, citing comments from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, said it had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged by recent US strikes, and that it would take years to rebuild.

GAZA CITY: A committee representing influential families in Gaza on Thursday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s accusation that some aid entering the war-torn Palestinian territory was being looted by Hamas.

After Israel imposed a more than two-month blockade on Gaza, aid began being allowed in at a trickle in late May.

Rights groups say Gaza and its population of more than two million face famine-like conditions due to Israeli restrictions, with chaotic scenes and near-daily deaths marring aid distribution.

In a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz published late Wednesday, Netanyahu said there was “information received today indicating that Hamas is once again taking control of humanitarian aid entering the northern Gaza Strip and stealing it from civilians.”

He announced that he had instructed the military to draft a plan “to prevent Hamas from seizing the aid.”

A statement from Gaza’s higher committee for tribal affairs — a non-Hamas affiliated committee created during the war — on Thursday rejected the claim that Hamas was stealing aid.

“Gaza’s tribal leaders affirmed that all aid is fully secured under their direct supervision and is being distributed exclusively through international agencies,” the committee representing influential families said.

“The securing of aid has been carried out purely through tribal efforts,” it added.

The statement rejected Netanyahu’s comments as “false claims” and called for a United Nations delegation to determine if aid was being correctly dispatched in Gaza.

AFP footage from Wednesday showed a truck convoy led by a UN vehicle carrying aid into northern Gaza after entering through the Zikim gate, south of the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Masked and armed young men could be seen riding atop the large aid bundles on the five trucks.

The men told AFP they were protecting the convoy from being looted before reaching its final destination.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir shared a video on Telegram on Thursday appearing to show masked, armed men standing on top of aid trucks.

“Today, what was known all along is becoming clear: Hamas is taking control of the food and goods,” the caption said, calling on Netanyahu to halt the entry of aid into Gaza.

AFP could not independently verify whether the video shared by Ben Gvir showed a truck after being looted by Hamas or being protected from theft by locals.

Israel began allowing a trickle of aid into Gaza at the end of May, much of it going through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and bypassing the UN-led distribution mechanism.

An officially private effort with opaque funding, GHF’s operations have been marred by chaotic scenes, deaths and neutrality concerns, with the UN and major aid groups refusing to work with it.

The GHF has denied responsibility for deaths near its aid points.