Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has dismissed US Defence Intelligence Agency head Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse after his agency cast doubt on the impact of recent US airstrikes on Iran.
The agency had contradicted former President Donald Trump’s claims of “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear research sites. Confirming the development, Hegseth was quoted as saying, “Kruse will no longer serve as head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).”
The removal is seen as a course correction, as the agency’s initial report on the Iran strikes stated that Tehran’s nuclear programme had been set back by months rather than years, as Trump had claimed.
Before becoming DIA chief, Kruse also served as an adviser for military affairs to the Director of National Intelligence. He had developed strong coordination networks in the Middle East while tracking the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
In June this year, the United States launched a massive aerial bombardment on three Iranian nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, in an attempt to push back the regime’s nuclear ambitions.
Trump hailed the strikes as a “spectacular military success” and repeatedly said they had “obliterated” the nuclear sites. However, the DIA’s preliminary assessment raised doubts about the accuracy of those claims.
Hegseth has said the president is simply reshaping the cabinet to appoint leaders he prefers. Democratic members of Congress, however, have raised concerns over what they see as a politicisation of the US military, which has traditionally remained neutral.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon chief also ordered at least a 20 per cent reduction in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, as well as a 10 per cent cut in the overall number of general and flag officers.
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