“I’m not aware of any intelligence that I’ve reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise,” Hegseth told a news conference overnight.

“There are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that … because of the hatred of this press corps, are undermined,” he said.

Nothing taken out of facility, Trump says

They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing “unusual activity” at Fordow days before the US strikes, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance to the facility.

At the Pentagon news conference, Hegseth described the strikes as “historically successful”.

Iran’s leader says US ‘did not gain anything’ from strikes

Addressing the nation, Khamenei framed Iran’s ability to potentially reach major American military bases in the Middle East as a considerable achievement, adding that such actions could be repeated if aggression is renewed.

Touching on the state of Iran’s nuclear sites, he added that the targeted US strikes on facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan hadn’t “achieved much”, before praising Iran’s armed forces for managing to “break through” Israel’s defences to “target urban and military areas.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has claimed “victory” over Israel. Source: AAP / EPA

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi denied plans to meet with the US next week, contradicting comments from Trump.