WASHINGTON: US intelligence concluded Wednesday that Iran was not rebuilding nuclear enrichment capacities destroyed last year by the United States and Israel, contradicting a key justification by President Donald Trump for his ongoing war. Tulsi Gabbard, a Trump ally who is director of national intelligence, offered mixed signals on the backdrop and outcomes of three weeks of war as she and other officials appeared before Congress She also assessed that Iran’s leadership remained intact.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard defended U.S. military strikes on Iran during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday.

Lawmakers pressed intelligence officials about the Iran war, and if the Islamic Republic had posed an imminent threat.