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Sen. Wyden presses intelligence director on warnings that Iran could strike shipping and U.S. forces
Summary
At a Senate Committee on Finance hearing, Sen. Wyden questioned Director Gabbard about whether U.S. intelligence agencies had warned that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz or retaliate against American forces and regional partners; Gabbard emphasized ongoing, continuing assessments by the intelligence community.
Sen. Wyden questioned Director Gabbard during a Senate Committee on Finance hearing about whether the U.S. intelligence community had warned that Iran could disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and could retaliate against U.S. forces or partners in the region.
"Every problem we are seeing now was not only foreseeable but was actually predicted by intelligence agencies," Wyden said, pressing the director for clarity on assessments made in the lead-up to the conflict three weeks earlier. He asked directly whether analysts had maintained an assessment that Iran had the capability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.
Director Gabbard replied that "the intelligence community has continued to provide the intelligence related to the operation in Iran on an ongoing basis," framing the community's work as continuous. When Wyden raised the prospect that an attack on Iran could prompt Iranian strikes on U.S. forces, Gabbard said the community "has always taken seriously the threat of the Iranian regime's missile capabilities and how our American troops in the region might be put at risk."
Wyden framed the stakes in economic terms as well, saying the nation is "in a global energy crisis" with higher gasoline prices and broader economic risk, and he criticized what he called hedging around the consequences of the war. He also quoted former President Donald Trump saying, "Nobody, nobody, no no no, the greatest experts, nobody thought they would hit the Gulf states," and asked whether assessments had anticipated strikes on U.S. partners in the region.
The exchange in the portion of the transcript provided ends with Gabbard reiterating that the intelligence community continued to assess potential threats to the region. The hearing record in this excerpt contains questions and responses but does not show a committee decision or formal action.
The line of questioning underscores the committee's focus on what warnings U.S. intelligence delivered before recent strikes and how those assessments relate to risks for shipping, regional partners and U.S. personnel.
