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US intelligence officials delivered a crucial blow to one of the key justifications for President Donald Trump’s ongoing war with Iran, concluding that Tehran had not been working to rebuild its nuclear enrichment capacity destroyed by a US-Israeli strike in June 2025.
This assessment contradicts Trump’s claim that Iran was on the brink of developing a nuclear bomb and that military action was necessary to prevent it.
In testimony before the Senate intelligence committee, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence and a Trump ally, highlighted the findings from the June 2025 US military operation, code-named ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’.
“As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was obliterated,” further adding, “There has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.”
However, Gabbard, when pressed by a Democratic senator, admitted that she had not had enough time to read her full testimony and did not refute the intelligence community’s conclusions before the committee.
This development marks a significant shift in the narrative surrounding the war. Trump had repeatedly claimed that the strike was ordered due to an “imminent threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Despite these findings, Trump has maintained that Tehran remained weeks away from a nuclear weapon.
The UN nuclear watchdog and many independent observers have raised doubts about this claim, particularly since Iran had been negotiating a deal with US officials just days before the attack.
John Ratcliffe, the CIA Director, also weighed in, telling senators that while Iran had been in talks, “they had no intentions of following through” on any agreement.
Gabbard, once a vocal opponent of war with Iran during her time as a Democratic congresswoman, now leads the intelligence community’s assessment.
Despite the strategic blows Iran’s regime has suffered, including the assassination of its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Gabbard noted that the regime remains “intact” but weakened.
“If a hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its military, missiles and UAV forces,” she added, referring to Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
Trump’s critics, including Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, have lambasted the administration for contradicting its original stance that the US should not act as the “policeman of the world.” “Now he’s turned us into the world’s policeman, into its jury, into its judge, into its executioner,” Bennet said.
As the geopolitical stakes remain high, Gabbard’s testimony has further complicated the narrative surrounding the Middle East conflict.
She also warned that the US faces ongoing challenges from Russia’s persistent aggression in Ukraine and China’s military modernisation efforts, which could have far-reaching consequences for global security.
