Trump said US intelligence chief Gabbard is wrong on Iran's nuclear weapons potential: she responded
Kyiv • UNN
Donald Trump said the US Director of National Intelligence is wrong about assessing Iran's proximity to building nuclear weapons. Trump claims Iran could have nuclear weapons within weeks or months, while the intelligence director believes Iran is not building nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that the country's Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was "wrong" in her assessment that Iran was not close to developing nuclear weapons. The White House chief made the comment on his way to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, UNN reports with reference to Fox News.
Details
"She's wrong. My intelligence community is wrong," Trump said after being asked about Gabbard's assessment that Iran was not close to developing nuclear weapons.
Following Trump's comments, Gabbard took to social media to criticize the media for "deliberately" taking her March testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee "out of context."
"Dishonest media deliberately takes my testimony out of context and spreads fake news to create controversy," Gabbard said in a post on X, accompanied by a video clip of her March testimony before Congress.
"America has intelligence that Iran is at a stage where it could produce nuclear weapons within weeks or months if they choose to complete assembly. President Trump has made it clear that this cannot happen, and I agree," Gabbard said.
Trump's remarks were preceded by a reporter's question to the US president, who publicly opposed the Iraq war about 20 years ago, which distinguishes this situation with Iran, given that no weapons of mass destruction were found after the George W. Bush administration's invasion of Iraq.
"There were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. It was to some extent before nuclear weapons. You know, it was – there was a nuclear age, but nothing like today's. And it looks like I'm right about the materials they've already collected in Iran. That's a huge amount of materials. And I think that within a few weeks, or, of course, within a few months, Iran will be able to have nuclear weapons. We cannot allow that," Trump said.
In March, US Director of National Intelligence Gabbard said in an opening statement before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the intelligence community "continues to assess that Iran is not building nuclear weapons, and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized a nuclear weapons program, which he suspended in 2003."
Addition
The American intelligence believes that Iran has not made a final decision on developing nuclear weapons, but is close to it. Tehran could accelerate the process in case of an attack or the assassination of a leader.