The Pentagon acknowledged to congressional staff Sunday that Iran had no plans to strike U.S. forces or bases in the Middle East unless Israel attacked first — directly contradicting the White House’s assertion that Tehran posed an imminent, preemptive threat to American personnel, CNN reported.
The briefing, attended by bipartisan staffers from several national security committees, lasted more than 90 minutes but failed to produce clear evidence supporting the administration’s stated rationale for attacking Iran, according to multiple people who attended.
Why It Matters
The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes across Iran in “Operation Epic Fury” early Saturday morning, with the Islamic Republic launching retaliatory strikes across U.S. bases in the Middle East.
The attacks mark a sharp escalation following recent nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran and raise the risk of a wider regional conflict. Iran has repeatedly denied pursuing a nuclear weapon and had engaged in diplomatic talks with the U.S. only days earlier to prevent military conflict.
The revelation strikes at the legal and political foundation of the Trump administration’s decision to launch one of the most significant U.S. military operations in years.
Without evidence of an imminent threat, the strikes — which have already resulted in the first American casualties following an Iranian retaliatory strike Sunday — could face serious constitutional and legal scrutiny.
What To Know
Senior administration officials told reporters Saturday that the U.S. struck Iran after determining Tehran was planning missile attacks against U.S. bases in the region that would create a mass casualty situation.
However, sources told CNN there was no intelligence to support that claim, and Pentagon briefers instead pointed to Iran’s ballistic missile program and proxy forces as justification — a threat posture that, sources noted, has existed for years.
Politico reported that the CIA had spent several weeks making inroads with Iranian officials, and that intelligence informed the timing and location of strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials. The White House said diplomacy had been Trump’s preferred course of action but that Iran “refused to engage realistically.”
U.S. Central Command said strikes were prioritizing locations that “posed an imminent threat,” including Iranian air defense, drone and missile launch sites and military airfields, but offered no specifics about a time-sensitive threat to U.S. troops.
The U.S. has also been depleting long-range precision-guided munitions at a significant rate, according to CNN, and will continue doing so until both the U.S. and Israel are confident, they have achieved air superiority over Iran.
What People Are Saying
Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner, who was briefed by senior officials, told CNN he had seen no intelligence: “That Iran was on the verge of launching any kind of preemptive strike against the United States of America,” adding that Trump has “started a war of choice.”
Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey told Politico: “This is an example of the president deciding what he wanted to do, and then making his administration go and find whatever argument they could make to justify it.”
Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida on Sunday Morning Futures: “While maybe not surprising, but very troubling, is most Congressional Democrats… are going to line up next week and say, ‘We don’t want the President to have any authority to defend the United States of America against the imminent threat of Iran.’”
White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson said the Pentagon had: “Briefed the bipartisan staffs of several national security committees in both chambers for over 90 minutes on the military action in Iran.”
Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz: “No other president in the past or the future would have taken out Khamenei, [Soleimani] and their deadly nuclear, missile and terror capabilities. That’s fact not partisanship”
What Happens Next
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are scheduled to brief House members Tuesday, with a Senate briefing also planned.
Update 3/1/26, 9:22 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
