Iran’s Nuclear Program Only Set Back by Months

Summary

WSJ What’s News: Iran’s Nuclear Program Only Set Back by Months

Release Date: June 25, 2025

In this episode of WSJ What’s News, hosted by Luke Vargas from The Wall Street Journal, listeners are presented with a comprehensive rundown of the day's most pressing headlines, spanning international relations, political upheavals, technological advancements, and significant corporate developments. Below is a detailed summary capturing the episode's key discussions, insights, and conclusions.

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1. US Military Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Facilities

The episode opens with a critical analysis of recent US military actions against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. According to a new US Intelligence report from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the strikes executed by the US and Israel over the past weekend have only marginally delayed Iran's nuclear ambitions by a few months. The attacks effectively sealed the entrances to two key nuclear sites but failed to dismantle the underground facilities where uranium enrichment occurs.

Key Insights:

• Assessment of Damage: Jared Malson, the Journal's Middle East correspondent, explains that the DIA's initial findings indicate that while the entrances to the nuclear sites were shut, the underground structures remain intact. This resilience suggests that Iran retains the capacity to continue its nuclear program, potentially through other concealed sites or by relocating enriched uranium.

• Administration's Response: The Trump administration has strongly contested the DIA report. Carolyn Levitt, the White House Press Secretary, dismissed the assessment as "flat out wrong," attributing it to "an anonym low level loser in the intelligence community" (03:11). This stark contradiction highlights the ongoing debate over the efficacy and impact of the strikes.

• Implications for Nuclear Diplomacy: The episode underscores the significance of these findings in shaping future diplomatic efforts. With Iran's nuclear capabilities not as severely hindered as previously claimed, President Trump’s push for a new nuclear agreement becomes more complex. The potential for continued uranium enrichment poses challenges to achieving lasting non-proliferation agreements.

Notable Quote:

"Today, eight months after launching this campaign with the vision of a city that every New Yorker could afford, we have won." — Zoran Mamdani (07:56)

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2. Zoran Mamdani’s Upset Victory in New York's Mayoral Primary

Shifting focus to domestic politics, the podcast highlights a surprising outcome in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary. Zoran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, emerged victorious against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, marking a significant shift in the city's political landscape.

Key Insights:

• Campaign Strategy: Mamdani's campaign resonated strongly with young and left-leaning voters, emphasizing affordability and progressive policies. His victory signals a growing appetite for transformative change within New York's electorate.

• Race Dynamics: Despite Cuomos's initial lead and his decision to concede after the primary results, he has not ruled out re-entering the race. The final outcome will be determined by a ranked-choice vote count, adding an element of suspense to the proceedings.

Notable Quote:

"Together we have shown the power of the politics of the future." — Zoran Mamdani (00:36)

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3. Landmark AI Copyright Ruling

A pivotal legal development discussed is the recent federal judge's ruling on the use of copyrighted materials in training artificial intelligence (AI) models. The court determined that Anthropic's use of legally purchased books for AI training complies with US Copyright law. However, the ruling excludes the 7 million books that Anthropic obtained through unauthorized means, subjecting them to further legal scrutiny.

Key Insights:

• Legal Implications: This decision could set a precedent for how AI companies utilize copyrighted content, balancing innovation in AI development with creators' rights. The differentiation between legally purchased and pirated materials underscores the nuanced approach courts may adopt in future intellectual property cases.

• Industry Impact: The ruling is poised to influence ongoing and future litigation involving major AI firms like OpenAI, Meta, and Midjourney, which have faced lawsuits from authors, musicians, and filmmakers over unauthorized content usage.

Notable Quote:

"A judge rules that AI models can use books and other copyrighted materials for training." — Luke Vargas (07:34)

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4. Boeing 737 Max Safety Failures

The episode delves into the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) findings regarding the Boeing 737 Max incident from the previous year. The report attributes the accident to inadequate training provided by Boeing and ineffective regulation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Key Insights:

• Systemic Failures: Jennifer Homendy, NTSB Chair, emphasizes that the accident resulted from multiple system failures rather than individual errors (10:20). This highlights the need for comprehensive reforms in aviation safety protocols and regulatory oversight.

• Boeing and FAA Responses: In response to the report, the FAA has pledged to fundamentally overhaul its oversight mechanisms concerning Boeing, while the company commits to ongoing safety improvements.

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5. FedEx's Financial Struggles and Strategic Shifts

Corporate news centers on FedEx's declining performance, with shares dropping over 5% due to increased tariffs impacting its international business. The company reported significant shipping reductions across the Pacific in the last quarter and has not provided a full-year outlook.

Key Insights:

• Workforce Adjustments: To mitigate financial pressures amid uncertain demand, FedEx is cutting parts of its European workforce as part of a broader cost-reduction strategy.

• Market Competition: The episode also explores how traditional airlines like Delta are emerging as competitors in the parcel delivery sector, leveraging their extensive networks to offer cost-effective shipping solutions.

Notable Quote:

"Shares of FedEx are down more than 5% in off-hours trading after the packaged shipping company said that tariffs are weighing on its international business." — Luke Vargas (10:36)

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6. Airlines Entering the Parcel Delivery Market

Expanding on the competitive landscape, the podcast examines how airlines are capitalizing on their cargo capacities to challenge established players like FedEx and UPS. Delta Airlines, in particular, has introduced a dedicated parcel service, handling tens of thousands of packages daily.

Key Insights:

• Operational Strategy: Airlines utilize their existing cargo spaces and partnerships with logistics companies to streamline package deliveries, offering quicker and more affordable options for consumers.

• Customer Benefits and Challenges: While airlines provide competitive pricing and reliable delivery times, certain shipments, such as medical supplies, may receive priority, potentially delaying other parcels. Nonetheless, the model remains attractive for its cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

Notable Quote:

"So the cargo units in these passenger airlines are partnering with different logistics companies... Now, cargo it's still a tiny, tiny portion of the airline revenue. It's less than 3%. But Delta says that this portion of their business is growing." — Esther Fung (11:41)

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Conclusion

This episode of WSJ What’s News delivers a multifaceted examination of international tensions, political shifts, legal milestones in technology, corporate challenges, and evolving market dynamics. By integrating expert analyses and firsthand quotes, the podcast provides listeners with a nuanced understanding of complex issues shaping the global landscape.

Transcript

[Advertiser]

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[Luke Vargas]

A US Intelligence report finds strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities only delayed Tehran's ambitions by a few months. Plus, Zoran Mamdani deals a major blow to the Democratic establishment, topping Andrew Cuomo in New York's mayoral primary.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Together we have shown the power of the politics of the future.

[Luke Vargas]

And we'll look at a landmark copyright ruling set to reverberate across the AI industry. It's Wednesday, June 25th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories mo your world today. US Military strikes on Iran last weekend only set back the country's nuclear ambitions by a few months, shutting off the entrances to a pair of nuclear sites but not collapsing their underground structures. That is the conclusion of a Defense Intelligence Agency damage assessment, according to people familiar with the intelligence findings that are at odds with claims by the White House and President Trump, who'd said that the targets of the raids were destroyed. The Joining me now with more on how the administration is responding to the report and the potential significance of its conclusions is Journal Middle east correspondent Jared Malson. Jared, walk us through some of the details of this report, especially as they relate to what Iran might be able to do with its nuclear program going forward.

[Jared Malson]

This is an initial assessment by one U.S. intelligence agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, which is the intelligence wing of the Pentagon. And this is their initial take on how much destruction was caused by the US And Israeli strikes at these three Iranian nuclear sites. And what this initial finding says is that those strikes likely only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a few months, that while it sealed the entrances to two of these underground sites, as you said, it did not destroy the underground buildings where some of this nuclear activity has been taking place. According to officials that we spoke with who are familiar with this report, Iran still has the ability to enrich uranium. Iran may have also moved some enriched uranium from the sites before they were destroyed, and it may have other covert sites to enrich uranium, according to one of our sources. And the significance of this is that it runs counter to what the president and what the administration has been saying, which is that the targets of the raids were, in the words of Donald Trump totally obliterated.

[Luke Vargas]

I'm curious how the administration is responding to this.

[Jared Malson]

So the administration has confirmed the existence of the report, but it is strongly denying the findings. Carolyn Levitt, the White House press secretary, said last night that the assessment is flat out wrong. And she said it was written by an anonym low level loser in the intelligence community, in her words. So they are pouring cold water on this essentially, and they are sticking to their line that the targets of the US strikes were totally destroyed, we should add.

[Luke Vargas]

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees all of the intelligence agencies in the US government, declined to comment on the report. And the dia, the sort of preparing agency here, didn't respond to a request for comment. That aside, if confirmed, I guess the implication here is that this Iranian nuclear issue may not be off the table.

[Jared Malson]

That's right. What's at stake here is the question of whether Israel and the Trump administration have achieved their goal of destroying or severely setting back the Iranian nuclear program. And we're going to see a lot more information come out about this. This is one initial assessment by one intelligence agency. And both Israeli and American intelligence agencies are going to continue to assess this question. It is a difficult question to address because the sites, by definition are out of reach in Iran in a place where they are relying, as far as we know, on one source of information, for example, could be satellites or signals intelligence to try to assess what happened in airstrikes where they were using these very large 30,000 pound bombs to try to destroy these underground facilities where the Iranians were enriching uranium.

[Luke Vargas]

And finally, Jared, would it be safe to say Israel's assessment in the coming, I don't know, days, weeks is going to be very key here. After all, they're the ones that had said they had achieved their war goals relating to Iran, one of which had been to end Iran's ability to enrich uranium.

[Jared Malson]

This is a very important question because, as you said, what's at stake is whether Israel and the Trump administration have achieved the aims of the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the other day that Israel was very, very close to completing Israel's war aims, which he said were removing Iran's ability to enrich uranium and destroying its ballistic missile arsenal. The world's intelligence agencies, including Israel's and the US's, will be looking at this question very closely. And we're going to see a very intense debate play out over what exactly was destroyed or not in Iran. Donald Trump says that he wants to strike a deal with Iran, a new nuclear agreement that would prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. What capabilities Iran still has in this area is at the heart of that question. Is it still able to enrich uranium to what degree, to what extent and at what rate? Those questions are all at the heart of the diplomacy that's about to unfold.

[Luke Vargas]

That was Wall Street Journal Middle east correspondent Jared Malson. Jared, thank you so much for the update.

[Jared Malson]

Thank you.

[Luke Vargas]

While speaking at a NATO summit this morning, President Trump was asked about how long he thinks Iran's nuclear program has been set back.

[Zoran Mamdani]

I think basically decades, because I don't think they'll ever do it again. I just don't think they're going to. I think they're going to take their oil, they're going to have some missiles, missiles and they'll have some defense. I think they've had it. I mean, they just went through hell. I think they've had it. The last thing they want to do is enrich.

[Luke Vargas]

In the coming hours, NATO allies are set to pledge to more than double their defense spending, after which Trump is due to hold a press conference at 9am Eastern. Coming up, a Democratic socialist wins a surprising upset in the Democratic primary to be New York's next mayor. And a judge rules that AI models can use books and other copyrighted materials for training. We've got those stories and more after the break.

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[Luke Vargas]

In a stunning political upset, Democratic socialist Zoran Mamdani has declared victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, triggering a concession by former Governor Andrew Cuomo. In a speech to supporters, Mamdani, who drew strong backing from young and left leaning voters, thanked the coalition of New Yorkers who got behind him.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Today, eight months after launching this campaign with the vision of a city that every New Yorker could afford, we have won.

[Luke Vargas]

The official outcome of the race is still to be determined by a ranked choice vote count. In addition to besting a Republican and independent candidate, the Democratic nominee would need to beat Mayor Eric Adams, who opted to skip the primary. And Cuomo hasn't ruled out returning to the race under his own party. Back in Washington, President Trump is warning Republicans to get their one big beautiful bill on his desk by July 4, posting on social media yesterday that no one goes on on vacation until it's done. Lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington for recess next week but have signaled they're prepared to stay and finish the bill. The House and Senate bills are broadly similar, with both extending tax cuts and increasing spending on border security. But despite that general agreement, dozens of sticking points ranging from deficit spending to Medicaid, are causing internal friction within the Republican Party as lawmakers aim to push the bill through Congress. A federal judge in California has found that Anthropic's use of books to train its artificial intelligence models was legal under US Copyright law in circumstances where it had purchased those books. However, the judge said the ruling doesn't apply to 7 million books that Anthropic obtained through pirated means, over which it will face another trial. Legal experts say the ruling could have broad implications for intellectual property and help to shape future litigation against AI companies. News outlets, along with musicians, filmmakers and authors, have sued the likes of OpenAI, Meta and Midjourney over what they consider unauthorized use of their copyrighted materials for AI model training. The National Transportation Safety Board says that Boeing's failure to provide adequate training as well as ineffective regulation from the Federal Aviation Administration both contributed to last year's dramatic blowout of a door plug on a Boeing 737 Max plane. Here was NTSB chair Jennifer Jennifer Homendy.

[Advertiser]

An accident like this does not happen because of an individual or even a group of individuals. Aviation is much more resilient than that. An accident like this only happens when there are multiple system failures.

[Luke Vargas]

The FAA said it's fundamentally changed how it oversees Boeing and will continue aggressive oversight, while Boeing said it would continue to make improvements. Shares of FedEx are down more than 5% in off hours trading after the packaged shipping company said that tariffs are weighing on its international business. The company said it saw some of the biggest declines in shipping across the Pacific Ocean during the recently ended fourth quarter and didn't provide a full year outlook. FedEx did say it's cutting some of its European workforce as part of a cost cutting drive amid uncertain customer demand. And speaking of package delivery, FedEx and UPS have a growing nationwide competitor, Delta Airlines. Delta is now carrying tens of thousands of packages a day through a dedicated parcel service it introduced last year, and Journal reporter Esther Fung says that American and United are also making good use of the space under their passengers feet in turn creating a new and steady stream of revenue.

[Esther Fung]

So the cargo units in these passenger airlines are partnering with different logistics companies, including freight forwarders that bring E Commerce packages to the aircraft and last mile delivery companies to bring these packages to your homes and it helps to insulate against fluctuations of ticket sales. Now, cargo it's still a tiny, tiny portion of the airline revenue. It's less than 3%. But Delta says that this portion of their business is growing. They aim to deliver hundreds of thousands of packages a day in the US in the coming years.

[Luke Vargas]

However, Esther says there are some drawbacks in using commercial airlines for shipping packages.

[Esther Fung]

Human organs and tissue deliveries and human remains get priority over other cargo, so the package typically gets bumped off to the next flight. But hey, there are 10 other flights your package could get on for that day. So you could still get your parcels delivered within two or three days. And this is something that customers want. And this can be cheaper. One customer told me that Delta's on time performance has been on par with FedEx and UPS and their delivery costs are 20 to 25% cheaper.

[Luke Vargas]

And that's it for what's news for this Wednesday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bullivant. Our supervising producer was Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. As always, we'll be special delivering a brand new show for you tonight. Until then, thanks for listening.

[Jared Malson]

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[Luke Vargas]

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