The removal of Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, who headed the DIA since early 2024, comes after the agency produced a preliminary assessment that said US strikes on Iran in June set back Tehran's nuclear program by just a few months.

The assessment -- which was widely reported on by US media -- contradicted claims from President Donald Trump that the strikes totally destroyed the nuclear sites, drawing the ire of both him and officials within his administration.

Kruse "will no longer serve as DIA director," the senior defense official said on condition of anonymity, without providing an explanation for the general's departure.

Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen a purge of top officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Charles "CQ" Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.

Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.

The chief of staff of the Air Force also recently announced his retirement without explanation just two years into a four-year term.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has insisted the president is simply choosing the leaders he wants, but Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential politicization of the traditionally neutral US military.

Hegseth earlier this year ordered at least a 20 percent reduction in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, as well as a 10 percent cut in the overall number of general and flag officers.