A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump says his administration will be meeting with Iranian officials next week. At the NATO summit in the Netherlands, where the president is meeting with European leaders, Trump defended his strikes on nuclear sites in Iran. Here to discuss the latest intelligence assessments and Trump's press conference, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre.
Greg, how did Trump describe the ceasefire between Iran and Israel?
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Well, he says the war is over. He called it the 12-day war. He said both sides were exhausted. There's ample evidence so far to support that view. Life seems to be returning to normal in Israel. A lot of Israelis got stuck overseas 'cause the airport was closed. The airport is reopening. They're flying home in large numbers. Iran had a big rally yesterday. Some senior officials were out among the crowd. Life is also returning to normal there. But, A, I would stress that we have seen this kind of thing in the past in other Mideast conflicts. You'll have this short, brief, intense battle, then a ceasefire. But it doesn't really solve any of the underlying problems. So we don't know, you know, if this is going to hold temporarily or for the longer term. But he did note, as you said, that the U.S. is going to be talking to Iran next week, so at least they're going to be discussing things, but it's not clear that anything has really been decided on the political front.
MARTÍNEZ: Right. When questioned, he did say that he guesses it could start again soon, so we'll see where that goes. The president also repeated his claim that Iran's nuclear program was, quote, "obliterated." What are we hearing, though, from other sources?
MYRE: Yeah. So there has been a bit of a range, quite frankly. The thing that has the president very agitated is a report from the Defense Intelligence Agency. An official has spoken to NPR about this and to other news organizations. That report says that the damage to Iran's nuclear sites from the U.S. strike over the weekend was limited - that Iran's program may be set back a few months, but it's not completely destroyed, as the president has suggested. Now, Trump is very upset about that. We're hearing some other voices today. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying that the country's nuclear facilities were badly damaged. And Israel's Atomic Energy Commission put out a statement saying that they believe Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons has been set back by many years. So these assessments are more an art than a science, and we're going to keep getting them. The one I referenced in the U.S. is really a preliminary one. And then more will be coming out, and we'll have to see what they say, but more information will be - is gathering - being gathered as we speak.
MARTÍNEZ: Sure. Now, the president also met with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Any sense that something or anything might be happening on the Russia-Ukraine front?
MYRE: Nothing specific in terms of commitments, but certainly in tone, Trump said Zelenskyy couldn't have been nicer. They got along well, and obviously, that contrasts with the difficult meeting they had at the White House earlier in the year. Trump also said he's been speaking to Putin. He will speak to Putin. He said Putin has been difficult. He's had some problems with Zelenskyy. But at the core issues, the intensity of this war has only increased as Russia has ramped up strikes, and Trump didn't make any commitment to providing additional assistance to Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Greg, thanks a lot.
MYRE: Sure thing, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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