Gabbard Says Iran Did Not Rebuild Nuclear Program After 2025 Strikes, Contradicting Trump

 https://time.com/article/2026/03/18/tulsi-gabbard-iran-nuclear-trump/

Iran did not rebuild its uranium enrichment capability following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against its nuclear program last year, U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday.

"As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There has 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," Gabard wrote in an opening statement ahead of the hearing. 

Gabbard's testimony, which is a representation of the intelligence community’s assessment of the threats facing U.S. citizens, appeared to directly contradict one of President Donald Trump's central justifications for launching a new war against Iran on Feb 28—namely that Iran was two weeks away from acquiring a nuclear weapon.