Top US intelligence officials set to testify about Iran war, threats confronting homeland

Washington: Top Trump administration national security officials facing back-to-back congressional hearings starting Wednesday are expected to be pressed on the war in Iran, including a deadly strike on a school, as well as the FBI's capacity to prevent terror attacks inside the United States.

The annual worldwide threats hearings involving the government's senior-most intelligence officials are taking place at a time of scrutiny over the US military campaign in the Middle East and heightened concerns about terrorism in the homeland following recent attacks at a Michigan synagogue and Virginia university.

The testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees is expected to centre on the war and in particular the revelation that outdated intelligence likely led to the US firing a missile that hit an elementary school in Iran and killed over 165 people.


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The outdated targeting data was reported to have come from the Defence Intelligence Agency, whose director, Lt. Gen. James H. Adams, is among those set to testify. The White House says the strike is still under investigation.

The hearings, which begin Wednesday in the Senate and continue Thursday in the House, are also likely to delve into internal administration debate over the war given the resignation this week of Joe Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Centre.

Kent said Tuesday that he could not "in good conscience" back the Trump administration's war and that he did not agree that Iran posed an imminent threat to the US.

Hours later, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose office oversaw Kent's work and who is expected at the hearings this week, wrote in a carefully worded social media post that it was up to Trump to decide whether Iran posed a threat. She did not mention her own views of the strikes.

Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe may also be questioned over recent intelligence assessments about Iran, including one that showed US strikes are unlikely to result in a regime change in Tehran, and another that cast doubt on claims Iran was preparing to strike first.

The hearings are also likely to focus on Kash Patel's leadership of the FBI. It will be his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since video surfaced last month showing him partying with members of the US men's hockey team following their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics.

He has fired dozens of agents in his first year on the job, raising concerns about an exodus of national security experience at a time when the US is confronting an elevated terrorism threat.

This month alone, a gunman wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words "Property of Allah" killed two people at a Texas bar; two men who authorities say were inspired by the Islamic State were arrested on charges of bringing homemade powerful explosives to a protest outside the New York City mayoral mansion; a man with a past terrorism conviction opened fire inside an Old Dominion University classroom in Virginia; and a Lebanese-born man in Michigan drove his car into a synagogue.

The FBI has said that it is working around the clock to protect the country.