Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say
#Iran-US conflict#Pentagon briefings#Trump administration#Military casualties#Intelligence assessment#Preemptive strikes#Middle East tensions#Public opinion
📌 Key Takeaways
Pentagon officials told Congress there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces first
U.S. and Israel launched major attacks on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and hitting over 1,000 targets
The conflict has already resulted in three American troops killed and five wounded
Trump's claims about Iran's missile capabilities were not supported by U.S. intelligence reports
Public opinion is divided, with 43% of Americans disapproving of the strikes
📖 Full Retelling
Pentagon officials informed congressional staff in closed-door briefings in Washington on March 1, 2026, that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces first, contradicting key justifications for the recent U.S.-Israel military campaign that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and targeted over 1,000 sites across the country, as the conflict has already resulted in three American troops killed and five wounded. The briefings lasted more than 90 minutes and involved both Democratic and Republican staff from Senate and House national security committees, with administration officials emphasizing that Iran's ballistic missiles and proxy forces posed an imminent threat to U.S. interests while acknowledging the lack of specific intelligence about Tehran initiating attacks against American forces. This disclosure undermines one of the primary arguments President Trump and his administration used to justify the military action, which was launched on Saturday with the stated purpose of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, containing its missile program, and eliminating threats to the United States and its allies. The military operation, described as the most ambitious U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran in decades, has included B-2 stealth bombers dropping 2,000-pound bombs on hardened underground Iranian missile facilities, while Democrats have criticized the military action as a "war of choice" and have questioned the abandonment of peace talks that mediator Oman still believed held promise.
🏷️ Themes
Middle East Conflict, Military Justification, International Relations
Armed conflict to thwart or gain an advantage over imminent invasion or offensive
A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war shortly before that attack materializes. It is a war that preemptively 'breaks the peace' before an im...
Evaluation of sensitive state, military, commercial, or scientific information
Intelligence assessment, is a specific phase of the intelligence cycle which oversees the development of behavior forecasts or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on wide ranges of available overt and covert intelligence (also known as "intel").
There are two t...
try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry Asia stocks slide as US-Iran strikes batter risk appetite Oil prices surge after US-Israel strikes on Iran, trim early gains Gold prices jump 2% amid widening US-Israel conflict with Iran Middle East tensions rise as Iran promises retaliation (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say By Reuters World Published 03/01/2026, 11:24 PM Updated 03/01/2026, 11:30 PM Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say 0 By Phil Stewart and Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON, March 1 - Trump administration officials acknowledged in closed-door briefings with congressional staff on Sunday that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces first, two people familiar with the matter said. The United States and Israel launched their most ambitious attacks on Iran in decades on Saturday, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sinking Iranian warships and hitting more than 1,000 targets so far, officials say. But Sunday’s remarks to Congress appeared to undercut one of the key arguments for the war made by senior administration officials. They told reporters the day before that President Donald Trump decided to launch the attacks in part because of indicators that Iranians might strike U.S. forces in the Middle East "perhaps preemptively." Trump, one of the officials said, was not going to "sit back and allow American forces in the region to absorb attacks." PENTAGON BRIEFINGS LASTED MORE THAN 90 MINUTES Pentagon officials briefed Democratic and Republican staff of several national security committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives for more than 90 minutes on the unfolding U.S. attack in Iran, White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson said earlier. In the briefings, administration officials emphasized that Iran’s ballistic missiles and proxy forces in the region posed an immi...
