President Trump and the Pentagon were aware that Iran would target the Strait of Hormuz and global energy producers in response to Operation Epic Fury, the nation’s top intelligence officials told Senate lawmakers Wednesday.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that their agencies briefed the Trump administration regularly on how Iran would respond in the event the U.S. carried out an attack and that the Pentagon made preparations based on their intelligence.
Democrats zeroed in on the justification for the war, now headed for a fourth week, amid soaring oil prices caused by a major disruption in oil production and shipping in the Middle East.
Mr. Trump, responding to economic reverberations from the war, issued a 60-day waiver to the Jones Act, a 1920s law that requires transport of products between U.S. ports to be conducted by American vessels.
“This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for 60 days, and the administration remains committed to continuing to strengthen our critical supply chains,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Democrats questioned whether Mr. Trump was aware of Iran’s likely retaliation to the U.S. bombing under Operation Epic Fury.
Neither of the intel chiefs would say what specific information they provided to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Ratcliffe said Mr. Trump “gets briefings constantly about intelligence” — up to 15 briefings per week. He also said “Iran had specific plans to hit U.S. energy interests and energy sites across the region.”
The Defense and State departments, Mr. Ratcliffe said, took protective measures for military and State Department personnel in the region based on those assessments.
Mr. Ratcliffe’s statement follows a claim by Mr. Trump that “nobody” predicted Iran would launch ballistic missiles against Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, nations that are among the world’s top oil and natural gas producers.
“They weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East,” Mr. Trump said Monday.
Mr. Ratcliffe said, “There has been and continues to be analysis” about the Strait of Hormuz that has been provided to the White House.
Ms. Gabbard told the panel the intelligence community has long predicted Iran would likely hold the Strait of Hormuz as leverage.
Intelligence Committee lawmakers zeroed in on Mr. Trump’s justification for going to war with Iran and whether it was the right decision.
The price of Brent crude oil rose above $105 a barrel on Wednesday, up from $70 in late February, before the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran.
The mission has targeted Iran’s stockpile of missiles and assets that could aid Tehran in building a nuclear weapon. The strikes also have eliminated dozens of Iranian leaders.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes have damaged oil tankers, oil refineries and ports critical to ensuring the flow of the global oil supply.
“We are trying to figure out if the president knew what the downside was of the Strait of Hormuz being closed, and I’m having a hard time finding out whether the White House asked, or whether there was a brief, whether the president knew, did he know this was going to happen or did he just disregard it,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona Democrat.
Mr. Ratcliffe said even as the U.S. worked to negotiate a deal with Iran to back down on its aggressive weapons program, the regime was rebuilding its air defense and missile stockpile taken out in June during Operation Midnight Hammer, which also bombed key nuclear sites.
“Diplomatically, they were saying one thing. The intelligence was saying quite the contrary,” Mr. Ratcliffe said.
Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota Republican, said based on his understanding of classified intelligence, Iran was rebuilding its defense capabilities as well as its stockpile of missiles that would be used to threaten U.S. interests in the region.
“I think the president made the right choice,” Mr. Rounds said. “It’s never a good time for war, but at some point, you’ve got to look at what your best possibilities are for protecting those young men and women who are in harm’s way.”
Sen. Michael Bennet, Colorado Democrat, said the president has not outlined a clear strategy for the war, after campaigning that he would keep the United States out of overseas conflicts.
“We are going to have to be in a perpetual war with Iran. And I don’t think that is where the American people are on this,” Mr. Bennet said.
Mr. Trump said Wednesday the U.S. might finish off the Iranian regime and let countries that rely on the Strait of Hormuz as an oil-shipping channel deal with its security.
Mr. Trump mused about the possibility while he urged other nations to help clear Iran’s blockade of the waterway.
“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Straight?’ That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!” he said on Truth Social.
The joint strike on Iran continues to deplete the regime’s leadership.
An Israeli airstrike Wednesday killed Esmaeil Khatib, Iran’s minister of intelligence, who was also under U.S. sanctions for orchestrating cyberattacks against U.S. targets.
• Tom Howell contributed to this report.
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