Echoing Netanyahu, Trump insists Iran is nearing a nuclear weapon, sidelining U.S. intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard – even as prominent MAGA voices grow louder in opposing American military action in Iran
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. intelligence community appear to be increasingly at odds over how close Iran is to obtaining a nuclear weapon, one of the key justifications for possible U.S. military involvement in the Israel-Iran war.
According to a CNN report citing four people familiar with the matter, U.S. intelligence assessments indicated that Iran was up to three years away from being able to produce and deliver a nuclear weapon to a target of its choosing.
Following the report, the White House shared testimony from U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla, who stated last week that "it is estimated that current stockpiles and the available centrifuges ... are sufficient to produce [Iran's] first 25kg of weapons-grade material in roughly one week, and enough for up to ten nuclear weapons in three weeks."
The U.S. intelligence assessment stands in stark contrast to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Fox News interview over the weekend, in which he said that Israel had obtained intelligence – shared with the United States – that Iran was secretly working to enrich uranium. According to the prime minister, the goal was to develop a test device and possibly an initial nuclear device within months – "certainly within less than a year," he said.
