In closed-door briefings with congressional staff Trump administration officials acknowledged there was no intelligence indicating that Iran had planned to attack U.S. forces first according to sources familiar with the matter.
The remarks made to both Democratic and Republican staffers on national security committees in the Senate and House appear to undercut one of the key justifications for the U.S. strikes on Iran.
Previously administration officials had told reporters that President Trump decided to launch military action in part due to indicators that Iranians might strike U.S. forces in the Middle East possibly preemptively.
According to the sources Pentagon officials spent more than 90 minutes briefing staff on the ongoing attacks emphasizing that while Iran’s ballistic missiles posed a threat to U.S. interests there was no specific intelligence of an imminent attack on American troops.
White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson confirmed the briefings earlier highlighting the administration’s focus on the regional threat while noting the lack of evidence of a direct Iranian strike plan.
