Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Dan Caine on Sunday said that while the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites successfully struck all three targets and did “extremely severe” damage, exactly to what extent Iran’s nuclear program has been set back cannot be known yet.

“It would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there,” the career Air Force officer said at the joint news conference at the Pentagon with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

His assessment offered a stark contrast with the boasts of both President Donald Trump in remarks Saturday night and with Hegseth just moments earlier. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said.

“It was an incredible and overwhelming success. The order we received from our commander in chief was focused. It was powerful, and it was clear. We devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” Hegseth said in remarks that praised Trump effusively while also disparaging former President Joe Biden’s administration. “Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.”

Caine, meanwhile, primarily praised the crews of the 125 aircraft that took part in “Operation Midnight Hammer,” including the seven B-2 stealth bombers from an Air Force base in Missouri that dropped 14 “bunker buster” bombs on the underground site at Fordow, the dozens of tanker planes that refuelled them, and the fighter planes that flew ahead of the bombers to ensure their safety. He said it did not appear that any of the planes were fired upon by Iranian air defense systems.

He also praised the coordination of aircraft with submarines that launched Tomahawk missiles, with all three targets getting hit over a span of just 25 minutes.

“I want to thank every service member, planner, operator, that made this mission possible. Their actions reflect the highest standards of the United States Armed Forces,” Caine said.

In his remarks, Hegseth appeared to confirm suspicions that Trump had been dishonest in his claims that he wanted negotiations rather than a military response.

“This is a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and preparation so that we could be ready when the president of the United States called,” Hegseth said. “It took a great deal of precision, involved misdirection and the highest level of operational security.”