This archive report was first published on 13 January 2020.
Esper Contradicts Trump on Iran Embassy Threats ¶
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said on Sunday that he never saw specific evidence that Iran was planning an attack on four American embassies, contradicting President Trump's claim that Iran was planning to attack four American embassies.
Speaking on CBS's 'Face the Nation,' Esper said, 'I didn't see one with regard to four embassies.' However, he added that he shared the president's view that Iran was likely to target American embassies, saying, 'The embassies are the most prominent display of American presence in a country.'
Esper's comments came as the administration faced criticism over its handling of the January 3 strike that killed Iran's top general, Qassim Suleimani. The strike prompted retaliatory strikes by Iran, which brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a Republican critic of the administration's actions, said on CNN that he was 'worried' about the quality of the information being shared with Congress and had not been able to ascertain specific details of the imminence of the attack.
Lee also disputed the administration's claim that it had briefed Congress on Iranian threats to four American embassies, saying, 'I didn't hear anything about that.'
Speaker Nancy Pelosi struck a similar tone, telling ABC's 'This Week' that 'I don't think the administration has been straight with the Congress of the United States' about the reasons for killing General Suleimani.
Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, accused the president and his top national security aides of 'fudging' the intelligence around the Iranian threat.
He also disputed the administration's claim that Congress had been told about specific threats to American embassies, saying, 'There was no discussion in the Gang of Eight briefings that these are four embassies that were being targeted.'
The Trump administration has also tried to keep up pressure on Tehran, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announcing new sanctions against Iran on Fox News's 'Sunday Morning Futures.'
Mnuchin said the new sanctions would target industries beyond Iran's oil sector to pressure its government, saying, 'This is all really about cutting off money, oil sales, other revenue that would be funding their terrorist activities and their nuclear weapons development.'
Despite the new measures, questions remain about the Trump administration's ability to further ramp up sanctions on Iran after having already used such tools so aggressively.
