| A REBUKE AND A THREAT: In a Truth Social Post late last night, President Donald Trump rebuked Israel for attacking Iran's South Pars gas field, provoking Iran to strike back at a section of the same massive natural gas field that provides much of Qatar's wealth. "Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran," Trump said. "The United States knew nothing about this particular attack," he said, noting that "a relatively small section of the whole has been hit." But the Israeli strike against the gas field, which is the world's largest, prompted Iran to retaliate against energy targets across the Gulf, including a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea, two Kuwaiti oil refineries, and a liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar, which controls the North Pars gas field. Trump said, "Unfortunately, Iran did not know" about the "pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack" and therefore "unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar's LNG Gas facility." He then effectively ordered Israel to cease and desist, threatening the annihilation of the entire massive gas reserve that lies largely in the rock layer under the waters of the Arabian Gulf. "NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar," Trump said. "In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before." "I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long-term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar's LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so," Trump said. TRUMP VOWS TO DESTROY 'ENTIRETY' OF SOUTH PARS GAS FIELD IF IRAN STRIKES QATARI LNG AGAIN WHO KNEW: While Trump claimed that he had no knowledge or warning that Israel would target the Iranian gas field, Axios' Barak Ravid posted on X that "Contrary to Trump's statements, senior Israeli and U.S. officials said that the United States had prior knowledge of the Israeli strike and even approved it in an attempt to pressure Iran." After the Iranians retaliated against Qatar's gas fields, Trump reportedly had a change of heart. "Trump's comments that seem to be an effort to de-escalate the situation came hours after he green-lit the Israeli strike on the facility that marked a significant escalation in the war," Ravid reported in an updated story on Axios. "Israeli and U.S. officials said the strike was coordinated with and approved by the White House." But after Iran struck back with two missile strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City and hit natural gas facilities, causing "extensive damage," Qatar wanted answers, Ravid reported. "Qatari officials contacted White House envoy Steve Witkoff, CENTCOM commanders and other senior Trump administration officials and demanded to know whether the U.S. had prior knowledge of the Israeli strike, according to a source with knowledge of the matter," Axios reported. "While Qatar didn't know about the Israeli strike in advance, Trump did, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios. Trump's remarks were inaccurate," they said. QATAR DECLARES IRANIAN EMBASSY ATTACHES PERSONA NON GRATA AFTER LNG FACILITY STRUCK OIL AND NATURAL GAS PRICES SOAR: The attacks on energy infrastructure sent more shockwaves through the jittery global oil and natural gas markets already rocked by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic. The liquefied natural gas facility Iran struck in Qatar produces one-fifth of the world's gas supply. Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked to $114 a barrel, up more than 57% since the start of the war. TRUMP EASES VENEZUELA SANCTIONS TO BOOST OIL SUPPLY AND LIMIT IRAN DISRUPTIONS Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre's Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn't work, shoot us an email and we'll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will take a one-week spring break hiatus beginning Monday, March 30. We will return Monday, April 6. HAPPENING TODAY: War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine will update reporters on Operation Epic Fury in the Pentagon briefing room at 8 a.m. As usual, the briefing will be livestreamed at https://www.war.gov/News/Live-Events/ ALSO TODAY: It's the House Intelligence Committee's turn to hear from America's top spymasters, as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. James Adams; acting National Security Agency Director Lt. Gen. William Hartman; FBI Director Kash Patel; and CIA Director John Ratcliffe testify. THE REGIME IS INTACT: In yesterday's testimony on the "Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community," Gabbard said that despite the killing of almost all of Iran's senior leadership, U.S. intelligence "assesses the regime in Iran appears to be intact but largely degraded." But at the same time, Gabbard said "Iran's strategic position has been significantly degraded" and that "even if the regime remains intact, the IC assesses that internal tensions are likely to increase as Iran's economy worsens." Democrats sharply criticized Gabbard on the committee for omitting from her oral testimony a sentence that was in her written testimony submitted in advance. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) pointed to a section where Gabbard had written that as a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, "Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated, there's been no efforts to try to rebuild their enrichment capability." "Was that because the president said there was an imminent threat?" Warner asked, suggesting she "chose to omit the parts that contradict the president." "No, sir, I recognized that the time was running long, and I skipped through some of the portions of my oral delivered remarks, sir," Gabbard replied. "What about the Strait of Hormuz?" Warner pressed. "The president continues to say as well that, you know, he had no idea, was shocked that the Iranians had moved to take over the Strait of Hormuz. Did you provide any intelligence that would say that … it was not likely that the Iranians would try to move on this trade?" "Historically, the Iranians have always threatened to leverage their control over the Strait of Hormuz," Gabbard said. "Then why would the president say he was amazed?" "I'm not aware of those remarks," was her answer. JOHN RATCLIFFE AND TULSI GABBARD DANCE AROUND WHETHER TRUMP WAS PROPERLY BRIEFED ON STRAIT OF HORMUZ RETALIATION WHO CAN SAY WHEN A THREAT IS IMMINENT? NOT GABBARD: Late in the hearing, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) pressed Gabbard about whether President Trump was reflecting the best assessment of the intelligence community when he said that Iran posed an imminent threat of making a nuclear weapon and using it against the United States. "Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was a, quote, 'imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime,' yes or no?" Ossoff asked. "Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president. And he made that determination," Gabbard replied. "False," Ossoff snapped back. "This is the Worldwide Threats Hearing where you present to Congress national intelligence, timely, objective, and independent of political considerations. You've stated today that the intelligence community's assessment is that Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated and that, quote, 'There had been no effort since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.' Was it the intelligence community's assessment that, nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was a, quote, 'imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime,' yes or no?'" "It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat," Gabbard said, which turned out to be the quote of the day. SENATE REPUBLICANS SIDE WITH TRUMP IN SECOND IRAN WAR VOTE BOOTS ON THE GROUND? The Reuters news agency, citing "a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter," is reporting that President Trump is weighing whether to send thousands of ground troops to the region for various options related to the next phase of the Iran war. "The deployments could help provide Trump with additional options as he weighs expanding U.S. operations, with the Iran war well into its third week," the Reuters reports said, suggesting the options for ground forces might include deploying U.S. troops to Iran's shoreline to help provide safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Or it suggested that another option might be to send ground forces to take control of Iran's Kharg Island, the hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports. "Reading between the lines, I assume what's happening is Adm. [Brad] Cooper wants options, and so we're deploying more," former national security official Brett McGurk said on CNN last night, noting an Expeditionary Unit of 2,600 Marines is already on its way from Okinawa. "There might now be more forces going in to provide those options. They might be used for the uranium in Isfahan," McGurk said. "That's about 300 miles inside the heart of Iran — that's an incredibly difficult mission, it's hard to even imagine." "Or this Strait of Hormuz issue, which is really coming down to the crux of it," McGurk said. "I don't see how this ends with Iran having the Strait of Hormuz shut down, and that probably will require more force, but that's also extremely difficult." ISRAELI LEADERSHIP GIVE MILITARY BLANK CHECK TO TARGET ANY IRANIAN OFFICIAL WITHOUT ADDITIONAL APPROVAL THE RUNDOWN: Washington Examiner: Israel hits world's largest natural gas field in Iran, escalating energy infrastructure strikes Washington Examiner: Trump vows to destroy 'entirety' of South Pars gas field if Iran strikes Qatari LNG again Washington Examiner: Qatar declares Iranian Embassy attaches persona non grata after LNG facility struck Washington Examiner: Trump eases Venezuela sanctions to boost oil supply and limit Iran disruptions Washington Examiner: Israeli leadership give military blank check to target any Iranian official without additional approval Washington Examiner: Iran executes national wrestling team member and two others over protests from January Washington Examiner: John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard dance around whether Trump was properly briefed on Strait of Hormuz retaliation Washington Examiner: FBI investigating Joe Kent for allegedly improperly sharing classified information Washington Examiner: Senate Republicans side with Trump in second Iran war vote Washington Examiner: China pursuing non-violent unification with Taiwan, unlikely to invade in 2027: US intel Washington Examiner: China hopes Trump's gamble on Iran and Cuba loses the US more than it gains Washington Examiner: Gabbard and Patel deny knowledge of Trump emergency election order plans Washington Examiner: Mullin committee vote could hinge on John Fetterman as Rand Paul vows to oppose Washington Examiner: How Markwayne Mullin would lead DHS differently than Kristi Noem Washington Examiner: Top moments from Markwayne Mullin's Senate confirmation hearing Washington Examiner: TSA data show 10% of officers called out sick Tuesday amid DHS shutdown: Report Washington Examiner: Zelensky warns 'a long war in Iran is a plus' for Putin as Ukraine faces missile shortages Washington Examiner: Democrats move to force DHS funding vote without ICE and Border Patrol Washington Examiner: Opinion: Legacy media root against US in Iran war to spite Trump Washington Examiner: Opinion: Europe should provide Strait of Hormuz naval escorts, NATO notwithstanding Washington Post: Pentagon Seeks More Than $200 Billion in Budget Request for Iran War Reuters: Exclusive: US weighs military reinforcements as Iran war enters possible new phase CBS News: Trump Hasn't Made Up His Mind on Sending Americans into Iran to Seize Nuclear Material, Sources Say New York Times: On Iran, Gabbard Turned Intelligence Duties Over to Trump AP: Trump Pays His Respects in Delaware to 6 US Service Members Killed in the Middle East Politico: Inside the White House Plan to Sell the Iran War Online Wall Street Journal: How China Is Quietly Helping an Isolated Iran Survive Bloomberg: US Intelligence Agencies Soften Outlook on China's Plans for Taiwan BBC: Ukraine Faces Missile Shortage due to Middle East War, Says Zelensky Defense News: Ukraine War Undermining Russia's Arctic Plans, US Intelligence Says Air & Space Forces Magazine: Russian Warplanes Flying Near US and Canada More Frequently: NORAD Boss Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force 'Serious' About Planning for Cislunar Operations DefenseScoop: Space Force Drives Additional Acquisition Reforms with New Portfolios Breaking Defense: Pentagon CTO 'Pretty Confident' About Life After Anthropic Air & Space Forces Magazine: STRATCOM Boss: Pentagon Eyes Second B-21 Production Line Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Command to Launch Wargame Series for Industry Task & Purpose: Shipping Delays over Iran War Hit Military Families Moving to New Assignment THE CALENDAR: THURSDAY | MARCH 19 8 a.m. — National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations virtual discussion: "Crude Conflict: The Iran War and Its Consequences for the Middle East and Global Energy Security," with former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joey Hood; former Lebanese Ambassador to Poland, Canada and Chile Massoud Maalouf; Sara Vakshouri, founder and president of SVB Energy International; Matthew McManus, National Center for Energy Analytics visiting fellow; and Abderrahim Foukara, former Al Jazeera Washington, D.C. bureau chief https://www.youtube.com/watch 9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW — American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research discussion: "Poland, Northeastern Europe, and the Future of the Transatlantic Partnership," with Norway Ambassador to the U.S. Anniken Huitfeldt https://www.aei.org/events/poland-northeastern-europe-and-the-future 9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW — American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in-person discussion: "Poland, Northeastern Europe, and the Future of the Transatlantic Partnership," with Erik Brattberg, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council; Ian Brzezinski, senior fellow, Atlantic Council; Heather Conley, nonresident senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Robert Doar, president, American Enterprise Institute; Radosław Fogiel, Member, Sejm of the Republic of Poland; Anniken Huitfeldt, Ambassador of Norway to the U.S.; Igor Janke, president, Warsaw Freedom Institute; Paweł Kowal, member, Sejm of the Republic of Poland; Andrew Michta, professor of strategic studies, University of Florida; Dalibor Rohac, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy, American Enterprise Institute; and Rep. Michael Turner (D-OH) https://www.aei.org/events/poland-northeastern-europe-and-the-future-of-the-transatlantic-partnership/? 9:15 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: "Impact of Iran Conflict for Korean Peninsula," with former Supreme NATO Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro, Atlantic Council fellow; Mark Lippert, CSIS Korea chair; and Victor Cha, CSIS Korea chair https://www.csis.org/events/impact-iran-conflict-korean-peninsula 9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: "The posture of U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program," with testimony from Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command; and Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, commander, U.S. Southern Command http://www.armed-services.senate.gov 9:30 a.m. 342 Dirksen— Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee markup to vote on the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to be Homeland Security secretary http://www.hsgac.senate.gov 10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution and Goethe-Institut Washington discussion: "Ukraine on the mental map of Europe," with Karl Schlogel, professor emeritus in Eastern European History at Europa-Universitat Viadrina; Eric Ciaramella, senior fellow and director, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Ukraine Initiative; Fiona Hill, senior fellow, Brookings Foreign Policy Program and Brookings Center on the U.S. and Europe; Constanze Stelzenmuller, director and senior fellow, Brookings Center on the U.S. and Europe; and Michael Kimmage, founding director, Kennan Institute https://www.brookings.edu/events/ukraine-on-the-mental-map-of-europe/ 11 a.m. — Arab Center Washington D.C. virtual discussion: "Unpacking the War on Iran: Political Implications and Global Repercussions," with Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics; Negar Mortazavi, editor and host of "The Iran Podcast"; Barbara Slavin, Stimson Center fellow; and Youosef Munayyer, Arab Center senior fellow https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register 11 a.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: "How Badly Could the War Against Iran Hurt the Global South?" with Greg Priddy, senior fellow for the Middle East at the Center for the National Interest; Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow, Center for a New American Security; Karthik Sankaran, senior research fellow in geoeconomics, Quincy Institute Global South Program; and Sarang Shidore, director, Quincy Institute's Global South Program https://quincyinst.org/events/how-badly-could-the-war-against-iran-hurt-the-global-south/ 11:15 a.m — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: "Israel's Escalating War in Lebanon: What's at Stake?" with Paul Salem, Middle East Institute senior fellow; David Schenker, Washington Institute for Near East Policy senior fellow; and Randa Slim, director, Stimson Center's Middle East Program https://www.csis.org/events/israels-escalating-war-lebanon-whats-stake 1 pm. — Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies virtual discussion: "The Return of the Monroe Doctrine? Venezuela, Ecuador, and American Foreign Policy," with John Harrison, professor of law, University of Virginia School of Law; John Yoo, professor of law and faculty director, University of California at Berkeley's Public Law and Policy Program; and Jeremy Rabkin, professor emeritus of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School https://fedsoc.org/events/the-return-of-the-monroe-doctrine 1 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW — Henry L. Stimson Center book discussion: West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East, with author Mohammed Soliman; Daniel Markey, senior fellow, Stimson Center; and Emma Ashford, senior fellow, Stimson Center https://www.stimson.org/event/the-middle-east-is-asian 5 p.m. — Common Good virtual discussion: "Update on Iran," with Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and former director of policy planning for the State Department https://www.thecommongoodus.org/upcoming-events FRIDAY | MARCH 20 10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: "Nuclear Strategy at a Crossroads," with Franklin Miller, former senior director for defense policy and arms control at the National Security Council; and Eric Edelman, counselor, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/nuclear-strategy-at-a-crossroads 2 p.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: "The fight for influence in Venezuela against Russia, China, Iran and Cuba," with former assistant Homeland Security secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention Samantha Vinograd, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security; Sebastian Arcos, interim director at Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute; Sergey Sukhankin, senior fellow, Jamestown Foundation and senior fellow, Saratoga Foundation; and Nikolas Foster, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council's Global China Hub; and Jason Marczak, vice president and senior director, Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/the-fight-for-influence-in-venezuela WEDNESDAY | MARCH 25 8 a.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group Zoom discussion with Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking member, Senate Armed Services Committee [email protected]
| | | | "It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat. That is up to the president." | | Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, testifying before a senate committee on the "Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community" |
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