Israel-Iran live updates: Trump says he would bomb Iran again ‘without a question’

Hegseth said the bombing of Iran is the most “complex and secretive military operation in history.”

​Hegseth said the bombing of Iran is the most “complex and secretive military operation in history.”   

Following a classified briefing, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Iran’s nuclear capabilities suffered a “major setback” after the U.S. bombed three sites there last weekend, telling reporters that lawmakers received a “thorough” and “very helpful” closed-door briefing — but Democrats left the briefing worried that Iran’s cache of enriched uranium may have not been destroyed.

Asked about that uranium stockpile by ABC News, Johnson downplayed the significance of an initial intelligence assessment from the Pentagon which showed that Iran’s stockpile was not destroyed.

“We have a sense about that, some of this is classified, but I will tell you that there was a CIA press release, I think it went out yesterday, and they concluded that this is a quote, ‘Iran’s nuclear program has been severely damaged,’ unquote,” Johnson said. “I’ll put that in layman’s terms. I would say it’s a substantial setback.”

But the only PhD nuclear physicist serving in Congress, Rep. Bill Foster, told reporters that he worries Iran’s uranium survived.

“I know this technology pretty well. I was very disappointed that we learned very little about the inventory of high enriched uranium, 60% enriched uranium, and its whereabouts and what that meant for the breakout time to Iran’s first nuclear device,” Foster said. “There is, I think frankly, a very over-optimistic portrayal of what was and was not accomplished by this mission, because we do not have understanding and control of where all of that material is.”

Democrats said there are “massive inconsistencies” remaining — and if the uranium was not destroyed, Foster believes Iran could still be “days” or “a very brief period of time” from building a nuclear bomb.

“We’re talking about 20 or 30 scuba tanks full of material, where any two or so of those scuba tanks provide enough material for a first nuclear weapon,” he said. “That is what we’re trying to understand – where the location is and the disposition in the situation where the intelligence may or may not be complete.”

Foster said “the game was lost” when President Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, in 2018.

“Under that under the JCPOA, we had very strict limits and enforced limits on their inventory of enriched uranium at different levels. And when that was lost, the game was lost,” he said. “And now we’re in a situation where they have very large inventories of quite significantly enriched uranium, and unfortunately that implies a very small breakout time to a first nuclear device.”

Former Army Ranger Jason Crow of Colorado, leaving the briefing, said he was “shocked” by the “massive inconsistencies that remain between what Congress has been previously briefed and informed and what we heard today.” The congressman added he is “not convinced whatsoever” that Iran’s nuclear sites have been completely destroyed.

-ABC News’ John Parkinson and Lauren Peller