{"id":15129,"date":"2026-03-02T10:44:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T02:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15129"},"modified":"2026-03-02T10:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T02:47:23","slug":"pentagon-undercuts-white-houses-iran-preemptive-strike-claim-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15129","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon undercuts White House\u2019s Iran preemptive strike claim: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Pentagon acknowledged to congressional staff Sunday that Iran had no plans to strike U.S. forces or bases <\/a>in the Middle East unless Israel attacked first \u2014 directly contradicting the White House\u2019s assertion that Tehran posed an imminent, preemptive threat to American personnel, CNN reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s stated rationale for attacking Iran, according to multiple people who attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why It Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes across Iran in \u201cOperation Epic Fury<\/a>\u201d early Saturday morning, with the Islamic Republic launching retaliatory strikes across U.S. bases in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revelation strikes at the legal and political foundation of the Trump administration\u2019s decision to launch one of the most significant U.S. military operations in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without evidence of an imminent threat, the strikes \u2014 which have already resulted in the first American casualties following an Iranian retaliatory strike Sunday \u2014 could face serious constitutional and legal scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What To Know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, sources told CNN there was no intelligence to support that claim, and Pentagon briefers instead pointed to Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program and proxy forces as justification \u2014 a threat posture that, sources noted, has existed for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/em> 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.<\/a> The White House said diplomacy had been Trump\u2019s preferred course of action but that Iran \u201crefused to engage realistically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Central Command said strikes were prioritizing locations that \u201cposed an imminent threat,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What People Are Saying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner<\/strong>, who was briefed by senior officials, told CNN he had seen no intelligence: \u201cThat Iran was on the verge of launching any kind of preemptive strike against the United States of America,\u201d adding that Trump has \u201cstarted a war of choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey told Politico:<\/strong> \u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida on Sunday Morning Futures<\/em>:<\/strong> \u201cWhile maybe not surprising, but very troubling, is most Congressional Democrats\u2026 are going to line up next week and say, \u2018We don\u2019t want the President to have any authority to defend the United States of America against the imminent threat of Iran.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson said the Pentagon had: <\/strong>\u201cBriefed the bipartisan staffs of several national security committees in both chambers for over 90 minutes on the military action in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz<\/strong>: \u201cNo other president in the past or the future would have taken out Khamenei, [Soleimani] and their deadly nuclear, missile and terror capabilities. That\u2019s fact not partisanship\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
AT SEA, UNSPECIFIED \u2013 MARCH 1: (EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images\u2019 editorial policy.) In this U.S. Navy released handout, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) fires a Tomahawk land attack missile in support of Operation Epic Fury, on March 1, 2026 at Sea. Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was confirmed killed after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28. Iran retaliated by firing waves of missiles and drones at Israel, and targeting U.S. allies in the region. (Photo by U.S. Navy via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What Happens Next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update 3\/1\/26, 9:22 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u2014 directly contradicting the White House\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":15132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1702,2717,2117],"class_list":["post-15129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-house","tag-pentagon","tag-white"],"yoast_head":"\nPentagon undercuts White House\u2019s Iran preemptive strike claim: Report - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15129\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon undercuts White House\u2019s Iran preemptive strike claim: Report - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 \u2014 directly contradicting the White House\u2019s assertion that Tehran posed an imminent, preemptive threat to American personnel, CNN reported. 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