US’s Own Intelligence Finds Further Strikes on Iran Are Futile, Report Says

Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today! U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that further strikes on Iran aren’t likely to achieve any progress with regard to the U.S.’s war aims, a new report finds as the Trump administration approaches Congress to ask for $87 billion more to fund the war. The Washington Post reported on Monday that intelligence analysts have “concluded that Tehran and Washington are, for now, stuck in an indefinite limbo between peace and war” that would not be resolved with further strikes. The report, largely prepared by the CIA, finds that there is little reason to believe that Iranian officials will be impacted, nor will further strikes change their positions at the negotiation table regarding provisions on sanctions or the Strait of Hormuz. The findings come, nonetheless, on the U.S.’s 10th straight day of bombing Iran after President Donald Trump unilaterally declared the ceasefire. Dozens of people in Iran have been killed as a result of the strikes, including children, while three U.S. soldiers were killed by Iranian strikes this past weekend. The U.S. has targeted hundreds of sites across Iran, including civilian infrastructure like bridges, railways, and power facilities. The U.S. is showing no signs of slowing, even as the war has already begun to escalate into an all-out closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, at the opening of the Red Sea, by the Houthis. On Tuesday, during a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Trump once again threatened to strike Iran’s “Pickaxe Mountain,” a nuclear energy facility south of Tehran. Related Story News | War & Peace US-Israeli Bombing Has Harmed Iran’s Wildlife, Farms, and Water Supply Toxic pollution from the war on Iran will continue to devastate the country’s environment for years to come. By Kourosh Ziabari , T ruthout July 17, 2026 Truthout “We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,” said Trump. Trump also claimed , once again, that Iranian officials “want to meet desperately to try to end” the war, but then said that the U.S. won’t stop its attacks until Iranian officials are “ready to meet in a meaningful way.” Secretary of State Pete Hegseth is also slated to testify before senators on Tuesday to push for the Trump administration’s request for an additional $87 billion to continue the war on Iran. The Trump administration has reportedly internally estimated that the war has already cost the U.S. between $80 billion and $100 billion. Iranian officials have indeed expressed interest in negotiations in recent days. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Iranian officials are eager to negotiate because they believe they have the upper hand. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, said in remarks to the press on Sunday that the U.S. is only open to negotiations if Iran stops attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. “As long as Iran insists on controlling an international waterway, we’re going to have to respond to that,” Rubio said. “They continue to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but their behavior is what we’re responding to. And their behavior is, they’re launching missiles and drones at ships.” However, the U.S.’s insistence over the control of the strait is one of the major sticking points in the ceasefire negotiations, alongside provisions for sanctions relief for Iran. Rubio threw cold water on the sanctions relief proposals, too, on Sunday. “One of the reasons why Iran is in shambles is because every penny that this regime there gets, be it in sanctions relief or through the oil they’re able to get out, they invest it in Hezbollah, they invest it in Hamas,” said Rubio, ignoring the U.S.’s position as the single largest spender on the military in the world. “They should be spending billions of dollars supporting the people of Iran,” he said. Meanwhile, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed the U.S.’s strategic crude oil preserve to its lowest point since 1983, and gas prices have once again risen above $4 a gallon on average across the country. An important fundraising appeal: 24 Hours to raise $21,000 Truthout is one of only a few platforms for justice-oriented, grassroots journalism. Today, as political censorship from the right intensifies, we have no choice but to ask for your help. We are fundraising right now to cover our basic operating expenses. If you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work. Anything you can do makes a difference — we appreciate your support. Share Share via Facebook Facebook Circle Icon Share via Bluesky Bluesky Circle Icon Share via Flipboard Flipboard Circle Icon Share via Mail Mail Circle Icon Share via Print More Share via Threads Share via Reddit Reddit Cirlce Icon Share via Pocket Pocket Circle Icon Share via Linkedin LinkedIn Circle Icon Share via Twitter Twitter Circle Icon Republish Republish This Article for Free Republishing Guidelines This article is licensed under Creative Commons ( CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 ), and you are free to share and republish under the following terms: Required: Required: You must credit Truthout and retain our links, as follows: "This article was originally published by Truthout." Required: You must preserve the article exactly as it appears on our site. You cannot edit, shorten or otherwise alter the content. Required: You must clearly credit the author(s) and retain their byline. Prohibited: You cannot republish our photographs or illustrations without specific permission. Prohibited: You cannot use this work for commercial purposes. Article HTML Republish HTML code for copying <h1>US’s Own Intelligence Finds Further Strikes on Iran Are Futile, Report Says</h1> By Sharon Zhang This article was originally published by <a href src="https://truthout.org/articles/uss-own-intelligence-finds-further-strikes-on-iran-are-futile-report-says/">Truthout</a> The recent round of strikes has killed dozens in Iran and destroyed key civilian infrastructure. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that further strikes on Iran aren’t likely to achieve any progress with regard to the U.S.’s war aims, a new report finds as the Trump administration approaches Congress to ask for $87 billion more to fund the war. The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/20/us-strikes-unlikely-move-iran-intelligence-reports-say/">reported</a> on Monday that intelligence analysts have “concluded that Tehran and Washington are, for now, stuck in an indefinite limbo between peace and war” that would not be resolved with further strikes. The report, largely prepared by the CIA, finds that there is little reason to believe that Iranian officials will be impacted, nor will further strikes change their positions at the negotiation table regarding provisions on sanctions or the Strait of Hormuz. The findings come, nonetheless, on the U.S.’s 10th straight day of bombing Iran after President Donald Trump unilaterally declared the ceasefire. Dozens of people in Iran <a href="https://www.en-hrana.org/ten-day-report-on-the-new-wave-of-attacks-on-iran-human-casualties-and-disruption-of-critical-infrastructure/">have been killed</a> as a result of the strikes, including children, while three U.S. soldiers were killed by Iranian strikes this past weekend. The U.S. has targeted hundreds of sites across Iran, <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/us-bombs-irans-civilian-infrastructure-as-trump-threatens-power-plants-bridges/">including civilian infrastructure</a> like bridges, railways, and power facilities. The U.S. is showing no signs of slowing, even as the war <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/21/saudi-condemns-houthi-blockade-how-will-the-rest-of-the-world-be-impacted">has already begun to escalate</a> into an all-out closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, at the opening of the Red Sea, by the Houthis. On Tuesday, during a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Trump once <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/21/world/iran-war-strikes-trump-hormuz/a4d53ef1-528f-5e97-a304-4fd422eb02de?smid=url-share">again threatened to</a> strike Iran’s “Pickaxe Mountain,” a nuclear energy facility south of Tehran. “We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/21/world/iran-war-strikes-trump-hormuz/a4d53ef1-528f-5e97-a304-4fd422eb02de?smid=url-share">said</a> Trump.  Trump <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/2079588581040156759">also claimed</a>, once again, that Iranian officials “want to meet desperately to try to end” the war, but then said that the U.S. won’t stop its attacks until Iranian officials are “ready to meet in a meaningful way.” Secretary of State Pete Hegseth is also slated to testify before senators on Tuesday to push for the Trump administration’s request for an additional $87 billion to continue the war on Iran. The Trump administration has <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/internal-estimates-put-iran-war-cost-near-100b-reports-say/">reportedly internally estimated</a> that the war has already cost the U.S. between $80 billion and $100 billion. Iranian officials have indeed expressed interest in negotiations in recent days. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/world/middleeast/rubio-us-iran-war-diplomacy.html">said</a> that Iranian officials are eager to negotiate because they believe they have the upper hand.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, said in remarks to the <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/07/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks-to-the-press-13">press on Sunday</a> that the U.S. is only open to negotiations if Iran stops attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. “As long as Iran insists on controlling an international waterway, we’re going to have to respond to that,” Rubio said. “They continue to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but their behavior is what we’re responding to. And their behavior is, they’re launching missiles and drones at ships.” However, the U.S.’s insistence over the control of the strait is one of the major sticking points in the ceasefire negotiations, alongside provisions for sanctions relief for Iran. Rubio threw cold water on the sanctions relief proposals, too, on Sunday. “One of the reasons why Iran is in shambles is because every penny that this regime there gets, be it in sanctions relief or through the oil they’re able to get out, they invest it in Hezbollah, they invest it in Hamas,” said Rubio, ignoring the U.S.’s position as <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/article/the-united-states-spends-more-on-defense-than-the-next-6-countries-combined/">the single largest spender</a> on the military in the world. “They should be spending billions of dollars supporting the people of Iran,” he said. Meanwhile, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-u-s-oil-reserve-is-at-a-40-year-low-but-the-government-says-theres-still-plenty-of-breathing-room-04ebd69c?eafs_enabled=false">has pushed</a> the U.S.’s strategic crude oil preserve to its lowest point since 1983, and gas prices <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gas-prices-iran-war-4-gallon-4b82825734ec3ded192351e53a4be69e">have once again risen above</a> $4 a gallon on average across the country. <hr> This <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/uss-own-intelligence-finds-further-strikes-on-iran-are-futile-report-says/">article</a> was originally published by <a href="https://truthout.org">Truthout</a> and is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)</a>. Please maintain all links and credits in accordance with our <a href="https://truthout.org/republishing-policy">republishing guidelines</a>. Copy this HTML code to republish the article on your website Close Copy HTML This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) , and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license. Sharon Zhang Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering international affairs, politics, and labor. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter and Bluesky . Truthout

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