Trump Iranian missile claim unsupported by U.S. intelligence, say sources
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U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/NATHAN HOWARD
WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran will soon have a missile that can hit the United States is not backed by U.S. intelligence reports and appears to be exaggerated, according to three sources familiar with intelligence reports, casting doubt on part of his case for a possible attack on the Islamic Republic.
In his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump began making his case to the American public for why the U.S. could launch strikes against Iran, saying Tehran was “working on missiles that will soon reach” the United States.
But there have been no changes, two sources said, to an unclassified 2025 U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that Iran could take until 2035 to develop a "militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile" (ICBM) from its existing satellite-lofting space-launch vehicles (SLV).
The White House declined to comment.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Humeyra Pamuk and Gram Slattery; Editing by Don Durfee and Michael Perry)
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