Iran took center stage during the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee’s grilling of members of the Trump administration’s national security and intelligence team during its annual hearing on worldwide threats.
The hearing hosted by the Senate committee Wednesday, focused on President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran in Operation Epic Fury, now in its third week.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard found herself in the hot seat fending off heated questions from senators seeking answers on Operation Epic Fury and whether or not Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S.
In her prepared witness statement, Gabbard argues that Iran, along with Russia, China, North Korea and Pakistan, “have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our Homeland within range.”
She added that the intelligence community “assesses that threats to the Homeland will expand collectively to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035, from the current assessed figure of more than 3,000 missiles.”
She noted that the Islamic Republic has “demonstrated space launch” technology, which the intelligence community believes it could use to develop “militarily ICBM before 2035.” However, since the start of Operation Epic Fury, assessments need to be updated to determine the full impact of the strike, including its effects on missile production facilities, stockpiles, and launch capabilities.
The hearing got heated between Gabbard and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., when he grilled her comments from her prepared statement that claimed that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear enrichment program “was obliterated” during last summer’s Operation Midnight Hammer, when the U.S. targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities. She further stated that there have been “no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability. The entrances to the underground facilities that were bombed have been buried and shuttered with cement.”
Ossoff pressed the director, questioning whether there was indeed an imminent threat from the Islamic Republic as the president has argued.
“Iran was trying to recover from the severe damage to its nuclear infrastructure…The intelligence community assessed that Iran maintained the intention to rebuild and to continue to grow their nuclear enrichment,” Gabbard told the senator.
Backing up Gabbard’s claim, CIA Director John Ratcliffe reiterated the White House’s stance that Iran indeed posed an imminent threat to the U.S.
Ratcliffe was asked by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, if there was any indication that Iran “ceased” its “nuclear ambitions or in its desire to continue to build ballistic missiles capable of threatening American troops?”
“No. In fact, intelligence reflects the contrary,” the director responded.
Despite the U.S. striking several thousand targets in Iran and eliminating its top leadership, Gabbard maintains that the regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded.” She added that even if the regime remains “intact,” it will likely face an uphill battle within its border as the economy suffers.
She warned that Iran and its proxies “remain capable of and continue to attack” the U.S. and allies in the region.
“If a hostile regime survives, it will seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its missiles and UAV forces,” she underscored.
The hearing comes one day after Joe Kent, the former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, abruptly resigned, claiming Iran wasn’t an “imminent threat,” prompting backlash from inside the administration and Republicans on the Hill, underscoring the Islamic regime’s intent to kill more Americans.