Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the Senate intelligence committee Wednesday that U.S. strikes on Iran have been a strategic success, despite recent retaliatory strikes that have resulted in American casualties and global economic disruption. Gabbard emphasized that her briefing conveyed the intelligence community’s assessment, not her personal views.
Iran’s Impact and Military Status
Iran’s retaliatory strikes following the U.S.-Israeli campaign have killed 13 American service members and wounded approximately 200 more, costing taxpayers billions of dollars and disrupting global supply chains for oil, fertilizer, and aluminum. A request from Donald Trump to allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz this week went unanswered.
According to the annual global threat assessment report, Iran’s conventional military projection capabilities have been “largely destroyed,” and its strategic position “significantly degraded.” However, the regime remains intact, and if it survives, it is expected to embark on a years-long effort to rebuild its military, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) forces. Internal protests have been violently suppressed, with thousands killed.
Nuclear Program and Emerging Threats
The intelligence community assessed in last year’s report that Iran is not currently building a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003, though pressure may be mounting for him to do so. The 2025 assessment also projected a growth in missile threats to the U.S. homeland, from roughly 3,000 to more than 16,000 by 2035.
Other threats highlighted in the assessment include North Korean hackers stealing $2 billion in cryptocurrency last year and the Islamic State actively rebuilding in Syria.
Election Interference Concerns
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the vice-chair of the intelligence committee, noted that the assessment contained no mention of adversary attempts to influence American elections for the first time since 2017. “I don’t believe this omission means that the threat has disappeared,” Warner said. “It means that the intelligence community is no longer being allowed to speak honestly about it.”
FBI Raid in Fulton County
Gabbard stated she did not “participate” in the FBI seizure of 2020 election documentation in Fulton County, but was present “at the request of the president, and to work with the FBI to observe this action that had long been awaited.” Warner questioned her presence, noting the criminal warrant “showed no foreign interference or nexus” and was based on “conspiracy theories that have already been examined and rejected repeatedly.”
Gabbard asserted her directorate has authority to investigate threats of foreign interference in elections, referencing a letter sent to Congress after the FBI raid. She said Trump sent her to observe, but added she had no prior knowledge of the warrant affidavit and was “not aware that the president knew about an affidavit before it was served.” When asked why Trump sent her to Fulton County, she replied that it occurred the day the FBI approved its warrant and began execution, before quickly changing the subject.
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