Pentagon fires intelligence chief after Iran attack assessment

Pentagon’s intelligence agency chief Lt Gen Jeffery Kruse has been fired by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. This comes just weeks after a White House rebuke of a review assessing the impact of American strikes on Iran. The Pentagon said in a statement that Lt Gen Kruse will no longer serve as head of US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). The defence department has not offered any immediate explanation on the firings. The DIA is part of the Pentagon and specialises in military intelligence to support operations. It collects large amounts of technical intelligence, but is distinct from other agencies like the CIA.

The assessment contradicted claims from US President Donald Trump that the strikes totally destroyed the nuclear sites, drawing the ire of both him and officials within his administration. A US official separately said on condition of anonymity that two other senior officers — Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, chief of Navy Reserve, and Rear Admiral Milton Sands, commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command — were also leaving their positions.

In June, the United States launched a massive operation against three Iranian nuclear sites, an effort that involved more than 125 US aircraft as well as a guided missile submarine. rump called the strikes a "spectacular military success" and repeatedly said they "obliterated" the nuclear sites, but the DIA's preliminary assessment raised doubts about the president's claims. Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen a purge of top military officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles CQ Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February. Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.