According to two people familiar with the decision, Defense Secretary Pete Hegses fired the general, whose initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iran’s nuclear sites from a US strike, angered President Donald Trump.
General Jeffrey Cruze would no longer be useful as head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Reporting Agency, according to those who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The firing is the latest drastic change in military leaders and the country’s intelligence reporting agency, coming months after details of the preliminary assessment have been leaked to the media. Iran’s nuclear program has only been retreated by a US strike for a few months, and it turns out to be inconsistent with claims from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At a press conference following the strike in June, Hegseth reported that he claimed the media was an anti-military bias, but did not provide direct evidence of the destruction of Iran’s nuclear production facilities.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that General David Albin, the Air Force’s finest uniformed officer, is set to retire two years earlier. The office of the National Intelligence Director, responsible for coordinating the work of 18 intelligence agencies, including the DIA, has also announced that it will cut its staff and budgets.
Cruze’s shooting was first reported by the Washington Post.