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Trump administration fires general who said attacks on Iran's nuclear sites had minimal effect

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 23 August 2025 9:06 AM

Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth has dismissed a general whose agency's initial intelligence assessment—stating that the June strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities caused only limited damage—sparked anger from President Donald Trump, reports say.

Jeffrey Kruse was fired on Friday along with Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, who is chief of the Navy Reserve, as well as Rear Admiral Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversees Naval Special Warfare Command, according to US officials who spoke to Reuters and Associated Press (AP).

It was not immediately known on what grounds Kruse, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) since early 2024, was fired.

All three military officials stated that they were unaware of the reason behind their termination by the Trump administration.

Kruse's DIA reported that the US attack on Iranian nuclear sites in June caused only limited damage, contradicting Trump's claim that the strikes "completely and fully obliterated" Iranian nuclear sites.

Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen a purge of top military officers, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles "CQ" Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.

"The firing of yet another senior national security official underscores the Trump administration's dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country," said US Senator Mark Warner, who is the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, urged the administration to explain Kruse's dismissal, saying, "otherwise, we can only assume that this is another politically motivated decision intended to create an atmosphere of fear" within the intelligence community.

Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the US Navy and Coast Guard, the general who led the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the US Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.

Earlier this year, Hegseth also ordered at least a 20 percent reduction in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, as well as a 10 percent cut in the overall number of general and flag officers.

Kruse's firing came two days after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that she was revoking, on Trump's orders, the security clearances of 37 current and former US intelligence professionals.

Gabbard also announced the first major restructuring of her office since its creation, reducing personnel by more than 40 percent by October 1 and saving more than $700m per year.

The Pentagon has provided no public explanation for any of these dismissals since Trump returned to office in January.