US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday identified Pakistan as one of the countries posing the biggest nuclear threat to the United States, alongside Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
Speaking during a Senate briefing, Gabbard said the US intelligence community believes these nations are actively researching and developing new missile delivery systems capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads.
“The intelligence community assesses that Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems, with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our homeland within range,” Gabbard said.
Gabbard also pointed to growing cooperation between North Korea, Russia and China on strategic capabilities.
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In written testimony submitted to the United States Senate Intelligence Committee, she also said the United States had “obliterated” Iran's nuclear enrichment programme in June last year and that Washington has not observed any attempts by Tehran to rebuild its enrichment capabilities.
“As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,” Agence France-Presse quoted Gabbard as saying in her testimony.
However, she did not repeat that conclusion during her oral remarks to senators. When pressed by a Democratic senator, Gabbard said she had not had enough time to review her full written testimony before the hearing, but did not dispute the assessment.
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"The intelligence community assesses that Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems, with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our homeland within range."
Tulsi Gabbard:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 18, 2026
The intelligence community assesses that Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems, with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our homeland within… pic.twitter.com/X4g85J3DUh
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has repeatedly said he ordered the February 28 attack on Iran alongside Israel due to what he described as an “imminent threat.”
Following the June 2025 bombing, Trump claimed the United States had completely destroyed Iran's nuclear sites. In more recent remarks, however, he said Tehran had been only weeks away from producing a nuclear bomb — a claim many experts dispute and which contradicts ongoing nuclear negotiations.
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