Gabbard: No sign Iran was rebuilding nuclear program after June strikes
Top US intelligence official offered Senate lawmakers conflicting assessments on whether Iran sought to rebuild its uranium enrichment capabilities after US B2 bomber strikes last year.
WASHINGTON — The United States’ top intelligence official offered apparently conflicting assessments to Senate lawmakers on Wednesday about whether Tehran was working to rebuild its nuclear enrichment program before the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on Feb. 28.
Testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Wednesday are Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe; Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. James Adams, US Marine Corps; and Director of the National Security Agency Lt. Gen. William Hartman.
“Prior to Operation Epic Fury, the [US intelligence community] assesses Iran was trying to recover from the severe damage to its nuclear infrastructure sustained during the 12-day war, and continued to refuse to comply with its nuclear obligations with the IAEA,” Gabbard told members of the committee.
However, in written testimony submitted to the committee before the hearing, Gabbard’s office said Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was “obliterated” by the June 2025 US strikes, and there had been “no efforts” by Iran to rebuild enrichment capability.
Gabbard did not clarify whether her claims were based on repeated statements by President Donald Trump that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States and countries in the region.
When asked by multiple senators whether Trump had been briefed on intelligence assessments indicating that Iran might attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping if attacked, she said, “This has long been an assessment of the [intelligence community]: that Iran would likely hold the Strait of Hormuz as leverage,” citing Ratcliffe.
On Monday, Trump replied “no” when asked by a reporter as to whether any advisers had briefed him that Iran may target neighboring countries with ballistic missiles and drones.
Gabbard further said US intelligence assesses Iran’s government “appears to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities."
Iran’s “conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options,” she added in opening remarks.
“The IC assesses that if a hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its military missiles and UAV forces,” Gabbard told lawmakers, making no mention of whether the conflict could push Iranian leaders to pursue nuclear weaponization.
Asked by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) as to whether the US military could eliminate Iran’s estimated 1,000 pounds (440 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium without putting troops on the ground in the country, the Pentagon’s top intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Adams, said he could not speak on the matter in an unclassified setting, deferring to the planned closed briefing with the panel later on Wednesday.
Ratcliffe added that US intelligence indicated Iran was not planning to get rid of its enriched stockpiles of nuclear material during diplomatic talks prior to the war. “Quite the contrary," he said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
