US intel chief: Weakened Iran regime appears intact, will seek military rebuild if it survives

WASHINGTON — US intelligence agencies assess that while Iran has been severely damaged by the past two and a half weeks of US and Israeli strikes, the regime appears to remain intact and will seek to rebuild its military capabilities if it survives the war, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says.

“The IC [US intelligence community] assess that the regime in Iran appears to be intact, but largely degraded, due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities,” Gabbard says in a prepared statement during testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Iran’s “conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options. Iran’s strategic position has been significantly degraded,” she adds, noting that sanctions in the lead-up to the war sparked mass protests against an already weak regime.

“Even if the regime remains intact, the IC assesses that internal tensions are likely to increase as Iran’s economy worsens,” Gabbard continues. “Even so, Iran and its proxies continue to attack us in the Middle East.”

“The IC assess that if [the] hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its military missiles and UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] forces,” she says.

Gabbard says Iran was trying to recover from the severe damage inflicted on its nuclear infrastructure during last year’s US and Israeli strikes in June. Tehran also continued to deny UN inspectors access to its facilities in the aftermath of those strikes.

US intelligence agencies have also assessed that Iran had previously demonstrated the technology needed to begin developing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) before 2035 “should it attempt to pursue that capability,” Gabbard says, while acknowledging that that analysis will need to be updated based on the results of Operation Epic Fury.