AP - March 18, 2026 - US intel official says Iran’s regime still intact but REFUSES to discuss talks with Trump about war. Democratic senators press DNI Tulsi Gabbard about whether she had advised President Donald Trump that Tehran would retaliate against nearby Gulf nations and block the Strait of Hormuz.

 

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From left, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Intelligence Agency Director James Adams, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Acting Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command William Hartman, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are seated before the Senate Committee on Intelligence hearings to examine worldwide threats on Capitol Hill Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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From left, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Intelligence Agency Director James Adams III, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Acting Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command William Hartman, listen during the Senate Committee on Intelligence hearings to examine worldwide threats on Capitol Hill Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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FBI Director Kash Patel listens during the Senate Committee on Intelligence hearings on Capitol Hill Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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From left, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Intelligence Agency Director James Adams, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Acting Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command William Hartman, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe stand before the Senate Committee on Intelligence hearings to examine worldwide threats on Capitol Hill Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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CIA Director John Ratcliffe testifies during the Senate Committee on Intelligence hearings on Capitol Hill Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

AP - US intel official 

says Iran’s regime 

still intact but 

REFUSES to discuss 

talks with Trump 

about war.

Democratic senators press DNI Tulsi Gabbard about whether she had advised President Donald Trump that Tehran would retaliate against nearby Gulf nations and block the Strait of Hormuz.

BY  ERIC TUCKER, DAVID KLEPPER AND STEPHEN GROVES

Updated 11:50 PM GMT+3, March 18, 2026

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government’s top intelligence official told lawmakers Wednesday that Iran’s regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded” yet repeatedly dodged questions about whether President Donald Trump had been warned about the fallout from the weeks-old war, including Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations and its effective closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, also stated in prepared remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee that U.S. attacks on Iran last year had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program and that there had been no effort since then to rebuild that capability.

The statement was notable given Trump’s repeated assertions that a war with Iran was necessary to head off what he said was an imminent threat from the Islamic Republic. Gabbard pointedly said that conclusion was the president’s alone to draw as she declined to directly answer whether the intelligence community had likewise assessed that Iran’s nuclear system presented an imminent risk to the United States.