Testifying before the Senate on March 18, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard omitted a crucial point from her oral remarks: Iran has not restarted uranium enrichment since US strikes destroyed its facilities in June 2025.
In her prepared testimony, she wrote: “As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was destroyed. Since then, there have been no efforts to try to rebuild their enrichment capabilities.”
Gabbard did not repeat that conclusion on camera, raising questions about the urgency of the threat posed by Tehran compared to President Donald Trump’s statements.
Questioning the “imminent threat”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) asked Gabbard about the omission: “You left that paragraph out of your opening statement — was it because the president said there was an imminent threat?”
Gabbard responded, “I realized that time was running out and I skipped parts of my oral remarks.”
Despite skipping it, Gabbard praised the ongoing US military operation, Operation Epic Fury, without contradicting the assessment that Iran’s nuclear facilities remain inactive.
Iran’s nuclear program is still on hold
According to her prepared notes, the entrances to Iran’s underground nuclear facilities were “covered and sealed with cement.”
She added: “Prior to Operation Epic Fury, the IC assesses that Iran was struggling to recover from the severe damage to its nuclear infrastructure suffered during the 12-day war and continued to refuse to meet its nuclear commitments, with the IAEA denying it access to key facilities.”
Her assessment contrasts with Trump’s repeated claims that Iran poses an imminent nuclear threat, justifying the February 28 US-Israeli strike.
Resignation and criticism
Gabbard’s top adviser, Joseph Kent, resigned in protest on March 17, saying Iran posed no immediate threat and that Trump had been misled by Israel and the media.
Democrats also criticized Gabbard, saying she failed to show that Iran poses any new threat beyond what has existed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian leadership and military status
Despite heavy losses in leadership, including the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Gabbard said the Iranian regime remains functional: “The U.S. intelligence community assesses the regime in Iran as intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities.”
She warned that if Tehran survives, it may attempt a long-term rebuild of its military, missile and UAV forces:
“If the hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its military, missile and UAV forces.”
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