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A Pentagon report that was recently shared with members of Congress contradicts many of President Donald Trump’s public claims regarding the U.S.’s war on Iran, according to a report by NBC News on Tuesday.
Trump has frequently downplayed Iran’s military capabilities, and has called analysis suggesting that Iran is able to continue in the war “corrupt.” At times, he’s claimed that Iran’s navy has been “completely obliterated,” only to later say he was planning to destroy those same naval forces.
The president has also described Democratic lawmakers and media offering factual observations on the war in Iran as “traitors” and “fake.” But the new Pentagon report shows that Trump’s own intelligence agencies view Iran as more capable of fighting the war than he or his underlings state publicly.
According to NBC News, the Pentagon intelligence report shared with members of Congress indicates that Iran continues to have “key military capabilities,” and remains a “potent regional power.” The assessment by the Department of Defense also demonstrates that Iran has thousands of missiles and one-way attack drones they have yet to use, should major hostilities in the region resume.
The NBC News report came the same day that Trump announced an indefinite extension of a ceasefire agreement with Iran.
The original ceasefire agreement, first announced on April 8, was set to expire only hours after his announcement on Tuesday, with the potential for hostilities to resume. But it’s unclear how long it will be until either side decides to continue major operations in the war, with some U.S. officials indicating Trump could restart bombing of Iran within a matter of days.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Trump said he was directing “our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”
Hours later, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the U.S.-led blockade of Iranian ports was a non-starter for negotiations, because, with the strait opened, “there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included.”
The extent to which the U.S. blockade is working is questionable. Overnight, Iran’s navy fired upon three ships in the strait, seizing two of them for allegedly “attempting to secretly exit the Strait of Hormuz.” The vessels have since been transferred to Iran’s territorial waters.
Recent polling reveals that Americans are largely opposed to the war in Iran, and aren’t confident in Trump’s ability to manage the war, hoping for a speedy end to the conflict rather than for all of Trump’s goals in the region to be accomplished.
An Economist/YouGov survey published on Tuesday (just before Trump announced the extended ceasefire) found that only 34 percent of Americans believe Trump is handling the war well. In comparison, 55 percent disapprove of how he’s handling the war.
The poll asked respondents whether the U.S. should seek a deal with Iran to end the war “as quickly as possible.” Seven in 10 respondents (70 percent) said the war should be ended quickly, with only 1 in 10 (10 percent) saying it should not be.
Support for the war in general was also low, with only 31 percent saying they backed the war and 58 percent saying they were opposed. Only 30 percent said Trump’s decision to start the war was a good idea, while 51 percent called it a “wrong decision,” the poll found.
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