Everyone Is Asking the Wrong Question About Iran
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Trump’s Public Rebuke of Tulsi Gabbard’s Statement on Iran
Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that Iran is not currently building a nuclear weapon. On Friday, President Donald Trump said she was “wrong” in her testimony. Gabbar took to social media to say her words had been taken out of context by “dishonest media” She maintains that she and Trump are on the same page over the Israel-Iran conflict. The open disagreements between Trump and members of his Administration signal splinters over the conflict. the President faced questions from both within and outside the Republican party, as he weighed up his options.
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Read More: How Netanyahu Pushed Trump Toward War In response to Trump’s new assertion that she was “wrong” in her previous testimony, Gabbard took to social media on Friday, stating that her words had been taken out of context by “dishonest media.” Gabbard maintains that she and Trump are on the same page. “The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,” Gabbard said. “America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.” Attached to the post was a longer video of her testimony, which also included her claims that “Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.” Read More: ‘Gravely Alarmed’ World Leaders React After U.S. Strikes Iran
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Trump reportedly still has “full confidence” in his intelligence team, according to White House communications director Steven Cheung, but the open disagreements between Trump and members of his Administration signal splinters over the Israel-Iran conflict.
The President faced questions from both within and outside the Republican party, as he weighed up his options about whether the U.S. would intervene in the conflict, despite him campaigning on staying out of wars overseas. Following the U.S. strikes, leaders outside of the U.S. have spoken out, with some expressing they are “gravely alarmed” by the escalation. Meanwhile, Gabbard—in an apparent show of support—reposted Trump’s announcement about the U.S. strikes.
Israel-Iran live: Iranian nuclear site and notorious jail ‘bombed by Israel’ – as supreme leader asks Putin for help
Nuclear watchdog chief calls for ‘maximum restraint’ Rafael Grossi said the world was in the ‘midst of a serious conflict’ He said Iran, Israel, and the Middle East need peace. The first step to help was to return to the negotiating table, he said. He said craters are now visible at the Fordow site.
Armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned.
Speaking at an IAEA emergency meeting, Rafael Grossi said the world was in the “midst of a serious conflict” with Iran’s nuclear sites coming under attack.
But there was still a “path for diplomacy”.
He said Iran, Israel, and the Middle East need peace, and the first step to help was to return to the negotiating table and to allow IAEA inspectors to go back to Iran’s nuclear sites.
On the status of Iran’s nuclear sites following US attacks, he said craters are now visible at the Fordow site.
At the Natanz enrichment site, the fuel enrichment plant was hit, with the US confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions, he added.
Iran has informed the IAEA that there was “no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites”, Grossi said.
“Let me again recall past general conference resolutions that state that armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the state which has been attacked,” he added.
“I therefore again call on maximum restraint. Military escalation not only threatens lives, it also delays us from taking the diplomatic path.”
Trump’s former ‘trusted operative’ spills Iran story ‘they’re not telling you’
Lev Parnas, a former Trump insider, said he hasn’t slept in two days. He said he’s been on the phone nonstop, gathering real-time intelligence. “What the media isn’t reporting is even worse” than what journalists are currently disseminating, he said. “I was his trusted operative, the one he sent to Ukraine to pressure Zelensky to dig up dirt on the Bidens,” he said in a Sunday post. “Most of the pundits you see on TV have never even been in the same room as Donald Trump,” he added. “That’s why I’m telling you now: What you’re seeing on the news? That’s the distraction. What I’m telling you here?”
Author and former Trump insider Lev Parnas, who has reported on Trump’s purported “humiliation” by Russia’s Putin, on Sunday wrote about his take on Trump’s military strike on Iran’s soil.
Parnas, who previously predicted Trump would indeed strike Iran, said over the weekend that media pundits are asking all the wrong questions.
In an article entitled While the Media Chases Trump’s Distractions, Here’s the Story They’re Not Telling You, Parnas discloses that he hasn’t slept in two days.
“I’ve been on the phone nonstop, speaking to sources across the globe, gathering real-time intelligence—not recycled headlines, not speculation—real insight into what’s actually happening behind the scenes,” he said, noting that “what the media isn’t reporting is even worse” than what journalists are currently disseminating.
“While CNN and MSNBC talk in circles about whether Trump has triggered a constitutional crisis by bypassing Congress—or fixate on whether this attack on Iran will spiral into retaliation—they’re playing right into his plan. They’re not asking the real question: Why now?” he asked. “They’re not talking about how this was always about oil, power, and control. About how this strike—this so-called ‘surgical obliteration’ of Iran’s nuclear facilities—wasn’t some last-minute military move, but a long-orchestrated step in a deal coordinated directly with Vladimir Putin.”
According to Parnas, Trump has been wanting to strike Iran, but has been waiting on the OK from a certain foreign leader.
“Trump wanted to hit Iran. The only thing holding him back? Putin’s greenlight. That greenlight’s now been given—and look what’s already unfolding,” Parnas wrote, adding that Trump’s recent antics are merely distractions from all this.
He added, “Most of the pundits you see on TV have never even been in the same room as Donald Trump. They don’t know him. They don’t know how he talks, how he schemes, how he deals. But I do. I was there. I was his trusted operative, the one he sent to Ukraine to pressure Zelensky to dig up dirt on the Bidens.”
“I know how he thinks. I know how he weaponizes chaos. And I know what he’s planning next,” he then added. “That’s why I’m telling you now: What you’re seeing on the news? That’s the distraction. What I’m telling you here? That’s the real threat.”
Read the full post here.
Everyone Is Asking the Wrong Question About Iran
President Trump said that the U.S. military had struck the nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan. Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contradicted both the president and secretary of defense. Caine said that it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there. Either the general is lying to the American public or the president, and his defense secretary, are lying to them.Which is it?
Over the last 48 hours most discussion has focused on whether or not America should have attacked Iran.
This is the wrong question because
that decision is ultimately a judgment call, with no objective answer; and the net outcome of the U.S. attack cannot be known on a near time horizon.
At some point we will know enough to make a reasonable judgment weighing the cost/benefit of this strike. That point is weeks—or months, or maybe even years—in the future.
Instead, we should be focusing on three knowable questions that can be answered—objectively—right now.
1. Does Iran still possess a nuclear program?
On June 21, President Trump said that the U.S. military had struck the nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan. He claimed that, “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
On June 22, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth agreed with the president’s claim: “Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and none could, until President Trump.”
Immediately after Hegseth spoke, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contradicted both the president and secretary.
“Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine said.
A reporter then asked Gen. Caine: “You said the battle damage assessment is still ongoing, but do you believe that some nuclear capability in Iran remains?
Caine’s response: “I think BDA is still pending, and it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.”
So the president and secretary of defense say that Iran’s facilities were “completely and totally obliterated” and that Iran’s nuclear program has been “dealt the final blow.”
But the chairman of the Joint Chiefs says that it is much too early to give any sort of accurate assessment of the damage done.
Either the general is lying to the American public or the president and his secretary of defense are lying to them.
Which is it?
Breaking News
Donald Trump doubled down on his claim that Tulsi Gabbard is wrong about Iran’s supposed nuclear capabilities. The president played dumb when confronted with a major discrepancy between his claims about Iran and what U.S. intelligence had to say. Trump has continued to play dumb (or maybe just be dumb) when asked any question about Iran. Earlier this week, Trump replied, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having it”
After disembarking Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, the president played dumb when confronted with a major discrepancy between his claims about Iran and what U.S. intelligence had to say.
“So you have that Iran is building a nuclear weapon,” one reporter said. “Your intelligence community has said they have no evidence that they are at this point.”
“Well, then my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?” Trump asked.
“Your director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard,” the reporter replied.
“She’s wrong,” Trump said.
Q: Your intelligence community says they have no evidence that Iran is building a nuke
TRUMP: Then my intelligence community is wrong. Who said that?
Q: You director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard
TRUMP: She’s wrong pic.twitter.com/RI9Jzouagh — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 20, 2025
Earlier this year, Gabbard testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that according to the Annual Threat Assessment, Iran was years away from acquiring nuclear weapons of their own.
When asked about this discrepancy earlier this week, Trump replied, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having it.”
In an effort to back Israel’s sweeping military operation in Iran, Trump has continually ignored intel provided by his own government. And Gabbard has made desperate attempts to rewrite her previous statements to get in line with the president’s newfound beliefs about Iran.
Trump has continued to play dumb (or maybe just be dumb) when asked any question about Iran. He repeatedly claimed that he would give Iran two weeks to weigh U.S. involvement—a timestamp he often uses to push things off until people forget about them—and said that he “might” support a ceasefire.