President Trump dismissed the assessment made by his own director of national intelligence regarding Iran’s nuclear progress as he returned early from the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada, to focus on rising tensions between Israel and Iran.
When asked about Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s congressional testimony from March where she said Iran, despite possessing a significant stockpile of weapons-grade uranium, was not currently building a nuclear weapon Trump was blunt in his response. “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One early Tuesday morning.
Gabbard, speaking in her capacity at the time, had cited intelligence assessments indicating that Iran was not actively constructing a nuclear weapon and that the Supreme Leader had not authorized resumption of a suspended weapons program from 2003. She noted a troubling trend in Iran’s rhetoric, saying the public taboo against discussing nuclear arms had faded, giving space to more hawkish voices within the regime.
She also emphasized the scale of the issue, stating Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile had reached levels never before seen in a non-nuclear weapons state.
Despite this, CNN reported that American intelligence agencies continued to believe Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon at present and could be as far as three years away from having the capacity to launch one. Israel, by contrast, has maintained that Iran is nearing a critical threshold in its nuclear development, using that argument to justify recent airstrikes.
Trump’s comments come as his administration weighs the possibility of greater involvement in the conflict. While the U.S. has not taken direct military action, American-made bunker-buster bombs are considered necessary for Israel to effectively strike deeply buried nuclear sites inside Iran.
