Trump defends US strikes on Iran nuclear facilities at Nato summit

US President Donald Trump rejected media reports that US air strikes only partly damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities as “fake news” on Wednesday, maintaining his claim that the targeted sites had been “obliterated”.

Speaking to reporters during the Nato summit in The Hague, Trump said that the US had carried out a “massive” precision strike on Saturday against Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.

“It was very, very successful. It was called obliteration. No other military on Earth could’ve done it, and this incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace, with a historic ceasefire agreement,” Trump said.

Referring to the Israel-Iran conflict as a “12-day war”, Trump said that his administration considers it “over” and that the two nations would “not go back at each other”, assessing that the damage the US air strike inflicted on Iran was enough to believe that the “war has ended”.

“Not only have we dealt decisively with the critical threat of Iran’s nuclear programme … but we’ve also reassured the credibility of American deterrence, which is like no other. People at Nato have said this,” Trump said.