MARCH 18, 2026
Tulsi Gabbard, US Intelligence Chief.
US Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard, presenting the intelligence community’s 2026 Annual Threat Assessment, said that Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan are the most significant nuclear threats to the United States.
While testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, Gabbard said, “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 that China and Russia are developing advanced delivery systems that are capable of penetrating or bypassing US missile defences.
“North Korea’s ICBMs can already reach US soil, and it is committed to expanding its nuclear arsenal,” she added.
The intel chief highlighted that North Korea is deepening its ties with Russia and China, a shifting alignment she suggested carries serious implications for global security.
Speaking about Pakistan, she told lawmakers that the Islamic republic’s long-range ballistic missile development potentially could include ICBMs with the range capable of striking the United States.
Gabbard identified Al-Qaeda and ISIS as significant and enduring threats to US interests abroad, with both groups maintaining a dangerous presence across parts of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
She claimed that the expected number of missiles capable of striking the United States has increased sharply from 3,000 in 2025 to 16,000 in 2035.
Gabbard Contradicts Trump
On the situation in Iran, Gabbard contradicted US President Donald Trump and said that Iran made no effort to rebuild uranium enrichment after its capabilities were destroyed in a June 2025 US-Israeli attack.
“As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme was obliterated. There has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,” Gabbard said in prepared testimony to the Senate.
Ahead of the hearing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Trump had full confidence in Gabbard.
Gabbard’s testimony comes after former top aide Joseph Kent resigned as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the Iran war.
Courtesy/Source: NDTV World / PTI
