REUTERS — US President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran will soon have a missile that can hit the United States is not backed by US intelligence reports and appears to be exaggerated, three sources familiar with the reports tell Reuters, casting doubt on part of Trump’s case for a possible attack on the Islamic Republic.

In his State of the Union address to the US Congress on Tuesday, Trump began making his case to the American public for why he could order strikes against Iran, saying Tehran was “working on missiles that will soon reach” the United States.

But there have been no changes, two sources said, to an unclassified 2025 US Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that Iran could take until 2035 to develop a “militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile” (ICBM) from its existing satellite-lofting space-launch vehicles (SLV).

One source said that even if China or North Korea, which closely cooperate with Iran, provided technological assistance, Iran would probably take up to eight years at the earliest to produce “something that is actually ICBM level and operational.”

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence, said they were unaware of any US intelligence assessments that Iran was developing a missile that could soon range the US homeland, but did not rule out the possibility of a new intelligence report they were unaware of.

David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector, and other experts noted that Israeli airstrikes last year and in 2024 had badly damaged key facilities where Tehran produces liquid- and solid-fuel ballistic missiles.

“President Trump is absolutely right to highlight the grave concern posed by Iran — a country that chants ‘death to America,’ — possessing intercontinental ballistic missiles,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.

The........

© The Times of Israel