Iran is "far from a nuclear weapon" after the US strike on Tehran's three main nuclear sites over the weekend, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, quoted by "Reuters".
He made his statement after media reported yesterday that the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had delayed Tehran's program by only a few months, citing a preliminary assessment by US intelligence sources.
Both Trump and the White House rejected the assessment in question.
The president reiterated on his social network Truth Social that Iran's nuclear sites have been completely destroyed, and White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt was the first to announce the assessment that the "presumed" conclusion is "absolutely wrong".
"Ultimately, they are much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action," Rubio stressed on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
"That's the most important thing to understand - there has been significant, substantial damage to various components, and we're just learning more about it," he added, referring to the damage done to Iranian nuclear facilities.
Rubio dismissed the media reports as "inaccurate" and made it clear that they did not capture the full picture.
A Trump-brokered ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to be holding today, a day after both sides signaled their air war was over.
Israel launched surprise air strikes on June 13, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders. Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, responded with missile strikes on Israeli military sites and cities.