Gabbard says Iran regime 'degraded'

Israel kills top minister; U.S. eases shipping rule

By: Michael, Loria
Bart Jansen
Kathryn Palmer
Cybele Mayes_Osterman
and Andrea Riquier
USA Today

..... The top U.S. intelligence official told senators that Iran's regime was "intact" but "largely degraded" as Israel said it had killed Iran's intelligence minister. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with European allies over efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. gas prices hit a national average of $3.86. [03/19/2026]
..... The "regime in Iran appears to be intact but largely degraded," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said at a March 18 [2026] hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
..... "It's conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options," Gabbard said.
..... According to U.S. intelligence assessments, "if a hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its military, missiles" and drone forces, she said.
..... Gabbard also stood by her support for the war, even after Joe Kent, head of the U.S. National Counter-terrorism Center and her former aide, resigned on March 17, [2026] saying Iran "posed no imminent threat."
..... Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress, was an outspoken opponent of a war in Iran during her 2020 presidential campaign. At the time, she warned that Trump had pushed the United States "to the brink of nuclear war." She later threw her support behind Trump's 2024 campaign and was tapped by him to lead the intelligence community in his second term.
..... After Gabbard testified in 2025 that Iran had not decided to build a nuclear weapon, Trump said she was "wrong."

'Imminent threat'

..... Pressed by Senator +Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, during the hearing, Gabbard would not say if the intelligence community had deemed Ian an "imminent nuclear threat," saying instead the president is "the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat."
..... Ossoff responded, "It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States."
..... CIA director John Ratcliffe told the committee that he disagreed with Kent's assessment that Iran "posed no imminent threat."
..... "Iran has been a constant threat to the United States for an extended peroxide of time and posed an immediate threat at this time," Ratcliffe said.
..... The United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28. [2026] thousands have been killed in the ear so far, including over 3,000 in Iran, according to U.S.-based Iran human rights group HANA, and over 900 in Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Dozens have died elsewhere throughout the Middle East including 13 U.S. soldiers.
..... Trump was scheduled to travel later on March 18 [2026] to Dover, Delaware, to attend the dignified transfer of U.S. service members killed in the war. The president previously attended the dignified transfer of six troops on March 7. [2026] Vice President JD Vance attend the event for a seventh soldier March 9. [2026]

'Tricks up their sleeve'

..... Trump, frustrated by a tepid response to his call for a naval coalition to escort traffic through the strait of Hormuz, suggested he might declare victory and let Europe "be responsible for the so called 'Strait.' that would get some of our non-responsive 'allies' in gear, and fast!!!!"
..... White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters March 18 [2026] that the Pentagon has "tricks up their sleeve" to reopen the vital waterway - a key shipping lane for 20% of the world's oil - but that Trump continues to call on European and other leaders to contribute more to the ware effort.
..... "The president is going to continue to talk to our allies, both in Europe and also in the Gulf and Arab region," Leavitt said. "The United States military has a lot f capabilities, as you have seen play out over the last 18 days. They still do have tricks up their sleeve.
..... She said there is plan but that she wouldn't broadcast it in the media. "But of course, the president, again, continues to call on our allies to step up and do more," Levitt said.
..... In Berlin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told legislators Trump's ware looked like a losing proposition. "There is still no convincing concept today [03/19/2026] for how this peritoneal could succeed," Merz said. "Washington did not consult us."

Trump eases shipping rule

..... In a move designed to ease disruptions to the U.S. oil market, Trump issued a 60-day waiver to the Jones Act, Leavitt announced earlier on March 18. [2026 "This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for 70 days," Leavitt said.
..... The Jones Act is a century-old law mandating shipping between U.S. ports be completed by U.S. vessels. In a 2023 working paper the National Bureau of Economic Research suggested waiving the law could reduce fuel prices. U.S. gas prices have surged to the highest level in three years since the state of the war in early March. [2026]
..... Gas averaged $3.86 a gallon nationally on March 18, [2026] GasBuddy reported fractionally higher than the day before. Diesel prices rose about $5 a gallon for the first time since the 2022 initiation surge.

Israel targets Iranian leaders

..... Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military has been given a free hand to target Iranian leaders after announcing the deaths of Iranian Intelligence Minster Esmail Khatib on March 18 [2026 and Ali Larijani, a top intelligence official and negotiator in Iran, on March 17. [2026]
..... Shrapnel form Iranian cluster munitions killed a man and a woman outside Tel Aviv in retaliatory strikes for Larijani's death Iranian state media protruded.
..... The killings bring the death toll in Israel from the war to at least 14 and underscore Iran's continue capacity to strike from a distance despite over two weeks of U.S. and Israeli attacks.

..... Contributing: Reuters

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