Latest news with #SenateIntelligenceCommittee
10 hours ago
- Politics
Sen. Tom Cotton & the Latest on the Israel-Iran Conflict, Sunday on 'This Week' with Co-Anchor Jonathan Karl
This is a listing for 'This Week' airing Sunday, June 22, 2025. 1:18 ABC News SEN. TOM COTTON & THE LATEST ON THE ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT, SUNDAY ON 'THIS WEEK' WITH CO-ANCHOR JONATHAN KARL Sen. Tom Cotton Senate Intelligence Committee Chair (R) Arkansas Exclusive ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT ANALYSIS Col. Steve Ganyard (Ret.) U.S. Marine Corps Karim Sadjadpour Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Fellow Chris Christie (R) Former New Jersey Governor ABC News Contributor Plus, ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell reports from Tel Aviv as the conflict between Israel and Iran enters its second week. POWERHOUSE ROUNDTABLE Donna Brazile Former DNC Chair ABC News Contributor Reince Priebus Former RNC Chair Former Trump White House Chief of Staff ABC News Political Analyst Sarah Isgur
NBC News
21 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Live updates: European leaders hold talks with Iran as Trump sets two-week deadline for U.S. action
What we know EUROPE-IRAN TALKS: Iranian Foreign MinisterAbbas Araghchi will be in the Swiss city of Geneva today for talks with his British, French, German and E.U. counterparts in an effort to end the weeklong Israel-Iran conflict although the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will not attend. TRUMP MULLS U.S. ACTION: President Donald Trump said he was still considering a U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear sites. 'I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' he said, according to the White House. U.S. INTELLIGENCE UNCHANGED: The U.S. assessment of Iran's nuclear program remains unchanged since March, when the director of national intelligence told lawmakers that Tehran has not decided to rush toward building an atomic bomb even though it has large amounts of enriched uranium, according to the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a source with knowledge of the matter. HUNDREDS KILLED: Israeli strikes have killed at least 639 people in Iran since the conflict began a week ago, The Associated Press reported, citing a Washington-based human rights group. The Iranian health ministry says more than 2,500 people have been wounded. The death toll in Israel from Iran's retaliatory strikes remains at 24.
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Iran Israel Conflict: Does Israel have a nuclear arsenal? All you may want to know
Israel's recent strikes on Iran have renewed international focus on its own nuclear capabilities. While Iran's nuclear ambitions are monitored and widely debated, Israel maintains a long-standing policy of ambiguity regarding its nuclear arsenal. This development has raised concerns among global analysts and non-proliferation experts. Israel Launches Strikes Israel launched attacks on Iran on Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon. He stated that Israel had to act because a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat to the country. According to US Senator Mark Warner, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, the American view on Iran's nuclear program has not changed since March. The US intelligence community believes Iran has enriched uranium but has not decided to build a bomb. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: 1 simple trick to get all TV channels Techno Mag Learn More Undo Also Read: The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4: When will it release? Here's what to expect in upcoming season and all details about cast and production team Israel's Nuclear Policy Israel has never confirmed having nuclear weapons. Experts refer to this as a policy of 'opacity.' Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute now calls it 'implausible deniability.' Live Events Israel is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Countries like India, Pakistan, North Korea, and South Sudan are also non-signatories. To join the treaty, Israel would need to give up any nuclear weapons. The NPT recognizes only five nuclear states: the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France. Historical Background Groups like the Federation of American Scientists estimate that Israel has about 90 nuclear warheads. Due to Israel's secrecy, it is difficult to confirm this number. Reports suggest that Israel began developing nuclear weapons after its founding in 1948. A 1969 US government memo revealed Israel agreed not to be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the region, but the meaning remains unclear. Also Read: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Rivals Event: How to earn rewards? See start date, time, rewards and when is next scheduled event Whistleblower's Disclosures and Policy Impacts Mordechai Vanunu , a former technician, exposed details about Israel's Dimona nuclear site in the Negev Desert. He was later jailed for treason. He claimed his actions were meant to protect Israel from future conflict. Groups monitoring nuclear arms argue that Israel's lack of transparency makes it harder to promote peaceful nuclear use in the Middle East. FAQs Why does Israel not confirm its nuclear weapons program? Israel follows a long-standing policy of ambiguity. This aims to maintain strategic advantage while avoiding direct international obligations or conflicts regarding nuclear disarmament. How might Israel's actions affect Iran's nuclear plans? Experts say Israel's strikes may push Iran to expand its nuclear efforts for defense, which could increase regional risks and fuel a nuclear arms race.
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump and U.S. intelligence appear at odds over Iran's nuclear progress
The U.S. assessment of Iran's nuclear program has not changed since March, when the director of national intelligence told lawmakers that Tehran has large amounts of enriched uranium but has not made a decision to rush toward building an atomic bomb, according to the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a source with knowledge of the matter. Comments by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have painted a different picture, suggesting that Iran is racing toward creating a nuclear weapon. Trump said Wednesday that Iran was 'a few weeks' from having a nuclear weapon, and Netanyahu said in a recent interview that Iran was pursuing a 'secret plan' to build a bomb within months. 'The intel we got and we shared with the United States was absolutely clear, was absolutely clear that they were working on a secret plan to weaponize the uranium,' Netanyahu recently told Fox News. 'They were marching very quickly. They would achieve a test device and possibly an initial device within months and certainly less than a year.' U.S. intelligence reporting on Israel is typically based in part on information provided by Israel's intelligence services. It was unclear whether Netanyahu's remarks were based on a different interpretation of the same intelligence. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, told reporters he was perplexed by Trump's assertions as lawmakers have received a different picture from U.S. intelligence officials. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, told lawmakers in March that U.S. spy agencies assessed that Iran had not made a decision to build nuclear weapons but that it had stockpiles of enriched uranium far beyond what is required for civilian purposes. The U.S. intelligence community's view has not changed since her testimony, the source with knowledge of the matter said. Warner said Wednesday that he received further confirmation of the March intelligence assessment 'this week.' On Tuesday, Trump publicly dismissed Gabbard's testimony, saying, 'I don't care what she said.' Warner said the administration needed to clarify whether there was new intelligence on Iran's nuclear work. 'So far, at least, the intelligence community has stood by its conclusion that Iran is not moving towards a nuclear weapon. They were enriching additional uranium, but they were not weaponizing that yet, and that [decision] was left with the supreme leader,' he said. 'If there has been a change in that intelligence, I need to know, and I want to make sure that if it is changed, it's based upon fact and not political influence,' he said. Building the bomb For Iran to acquire a nuclear arsenal, it would need to enrich uranium to 90% purity. At the moment, it has a significant amount of uranium enriched to 60%, about 400 kilograms' worth, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. It would take a small technical step to enrich to 90%. Iran has enough uranium now to produce up to 10 weapons over several weeks, according to U.S. officials' estimates. But enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels is only the first step. Then Iran would have to build and test a device that could be delivered in the form of a bomb or a missile. Estimates vary, but Western officials and analysts say it could take months to more than a year to build a nuclear weapon. Weapons experts say that Iran is not weeks away from securing a nuclear weapon but that it is weeks away from securing enough fissile material for an eventual weapon. The director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said in a report this month that 'Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state in the world that is producing and accumulating uranium enriched to 60 percent.' But on Tuesday, Grossi told CNN said that U.N. inspectors did not have proof that Iran was engaged in 'a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon.' Israel's airstrikes on Iran have probably set the country's nuclear program back by a few months, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. Since it launched its campaign against Iran last week, Israel has bombed centrifuge plants used to enrich uranium, including a site at Natanz, south of Tehran, and labs used to convert uranium gas into a metal, according to the IAEA and Israeli officials.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The political tug-of-war at the center of Trump's Iran decision: From the Politics Desk
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, Andrea Mitchell breaks down the critical decision facing President Donald Trump on the Israel-Iran conflict. Plus, Lawrence Hurley examines the questions that a major Supreme Court ruling on transgender rights left unanswered. Programming note: We're taking a break for Juneteenth tomorrow and will be back in your inbox on Friday, June 20. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here. — Adam Wollner As President Donald Trump considers whether the U.S. will strike Iran — likely the most important decision of his second term, one that could remake the landscape of the Middle East — allies and adversaries are taking sides, both at home and abroad. 'I may do it. I may not do it,' Trump told reporters outside the White House earlier today. 'Nobody knows what I'm going to do.' The president openly admired the effectiveness of Israel's initial airstrikes against Iran, even though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly launched his strikes to interrupt Trump's nuclear diplomacy with Tehran. But after being rebuffed in April when he sought Trump's approval for a joint operation against Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu could be on the verge of persuading an American president to provide the B-2s to deliver the 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs capable of penetrating the concrete fortress believed to conceal Tehran's most dangerous stockpile of nearly-weapons-grade uranium, based on new Israeli intelligence. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on MSNBC today that conflicts with a briefing to Congress this week that the U.S. intelligence has not changed: Iran has not decided to build a nuclear weapon. Israel's argument is that it's now or never. It has decapitated two of Iran's proxies — Hezbollah and Hamas — and toppled the Assad regime in Syria, and its retaliatory strikes last year eliminated many of Iran's air defenses. Israel's air force could damage Iran's above-ground nuclear sites and missile bases if it struck now, before Iran repairs its defenses, but can't eliminate the nuclear threat without U.S. bombs and bombers to reach the most critical underground facility. That has created a political tug-of-war for the heart and mind of Trump, who has publicly yearned for the Nobel Prize, seeing himself as a peacemaker who could bring Iran back into the community of non-terrorist nations and avoid another 'forever war.' Fighting that vision is his competing impulse to join Israel in eliminating the nuclear threat once and for all. And Tehran's leaders clearly misjudged how patient Trump would be with their refusal to compromise in the negotiations. Russian President Vladimir Putin remains on the sidelines, preoccupied with his own war. Jordan's King Abdullah II and French President Emmanuel Macron strongly oppose U.S. involvement. Trump has been consulting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Gulf's most influential leader. At home, the MAGA base is divided, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., leading the hawks and a growing cohort of Republican isolationists — even in Trump's Cabinet — opposed. Most prominently, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted a highly produced anti-war video on her official X account, reportedly infuriating her boss. Critics worry about unintended consequences of military action, repeating former Secretary of State Colin Powell's rueful warning before the U.S. war in Iraq. It's like the Pottery Barn rule: If you break it, you own it. Catch up on our latest reporting on the Israel-Iran conflict: Amid escalating global tensions, Trump struggles to be a 'peacemaker,' by Peter Nicholas, Peter Alexander, Jonathan Allen and Dan De Luce U.S.-backed regime change has a checkered past — Iran may be no different, by Alexander Smith Will Israel's airstrikes cause the collapse of the Iranian regime?, by Dan De Luce and Alexander Smith Tucker Carlson clashes with Sen. Ted Cruz: 'You don't know anything about Iran,' by Megan Lebowitz Follow live updates → The Supreme Court ruling that upheld a Tennessee law banning certain care for transgender youth left various legal questions open, even as other laws aimed at people based on gender identity, including those involving sports and military-service bans, head toward the justices. That means that even though transgender rights activists face a setback, the ruling does not control how other cases will ultimately turn out. 'This decision casts little if any light on how a majority of justices will analyze or rule on other issues,' said Shannon Minter, a lawyer at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights. Most notably, the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, did not address the key issue of whether such laws should automatically be reviewed by courts with a more skeptical eye, an approach known as 'heightened scrutiny.' Practically, that would mean laws about transgender people would have to clear a higher legal bar to be upheld. The justices skipped answering that question because the court found that Tennessee's law banning gender transition care for minors did not discriminate against transgender people at all. But other cases are likely to raise that issue more directly, meaning close attention will be paid to what the justices said in the various written opinions, as well as what they did not say. Read more from Lawrence → ↔️ Holding the line: The Federal Reserve left interest rates at their current levels as the central bank continued to assess the impact of Trump's tariffs on the U.S. economy. Read more → ⚖️ SCOTUS watch: The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's authority to approve a facility in Texas to store spent fuel. Read more → 💉 New sheriff in town: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ushered in appointees to a federal vaccine advisory panel who have expressed skepticism about the value and safety of vaccines. Read more → 🤔 Regrets, they have a few: Most of the seven Senate Democrats who voted to confirm Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security are now critical of her performance, with some saying they'd like a do-over. Read more → 📊 Survey says: Americans are divided on their views of artificial intelligence, with no meaningful differences based on age and partisanship, according to the NBC News Decision Desk Poll. The country's attitudes about AI today mirror poll answers about the rise of the internet in the '90s. 🔵 2026 watch: Bridget Brink, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, announced she is running for Congress as a Democrat for a competitive Michigan House seat that Republicans flipped in 2024. Read more → 🗳️ About last night: Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi won her party's nomination for lieutenant governor of Virginia in a tight race against a fellow state senator and a former Richmond mayor. Read more → That's all From the Politics Desk for now. Today's newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Dylan Ebs. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@ And if you're a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here. 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