Commentary

Sen. John Kennedy Says Classified Intelligence Showed Iran Arming to Shield a Nuclear Restart

Posted on by Kelly McCarthy

I want you to hear what Sen. John Kennedy said about Iran, because a clip of the Louisiana Republican has now been seen millions of times and President Trump made the same case on Friday.

On Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Israel and, in fact, the entire Middle East, WOULD NOT EXIST TODAY if I did not stop Iran from having a Nuclear Weapon,” Fox News reported. At Kennedy Space Center the same day, he said, “Iran will never, ever have a nuclear weapon.”

Kennedy described the intelligence behind that decision on Theo Von’s podcast, This Past Weekend, in an episode released July 1. An 81-second clip posted Thursday night by the account HQWhiteRabbit and shared Friday by MorEdge Insight had passed 5 million views on each post by early Saturday, according to X’s counts.

What Kennedy says he saw

Kennedy said the intelligence is classified. “Our intelligence showed that Iran was building up its missile capacity, both ballistic and cruise,” he said.

He said Iran meant to stockpile enough missiles and drones to deliver a message to America and Israel, which he voiced this way: “We’re restarting our nuclear weapons program. And if you try to stop us, we’re going to destroy the rest of the Middle East. And by the way, our missiles can now reach London, and Paris, and Germany.”

Asked where that came from, Kennedy said, “I’ve seen the intelligence.”

He said the President, who had already bombed Iranian nuclear sites, faced a choice, which Kennedy framed as “Do I let them get to the point where they have so many missiles and drones, ballistic and cruise, that they could destroy the Middle East, that they could hit London, that they might even be able to hit the United States, or do I go in to stop them? And he did.”

Kennedy said he was briefed in a secure Senate setting by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the Joint Chiefs and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. This is his account of classified material, and the administration has not released the intelligence he describes.

What the public record shows

The Washington Times reported Friday that Kennedy tied the buildup to Iran’s response after the U.S. and Israel struck its nuclear sites in June 2025. Iran says its program is peaceful.

The broader U.S. and Israeli campaign began Feb. 28. A Congressional Research Service report cites White House figures of more than 450 ballistic missile targets and about 800 attack-drone targets struck, and a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that Iran still holds thousands of missiles and one-way attack drones.

On Friday, Revolutionary Guards adviser Brig. Gen. Ali Balali said Iran’s missiles can reach American and Israeli targets, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported, as cited by Fox News.

And remember, there is a bigger picture here.

The bottom line

I am angry that a regime which arms Hezbollah and the Houthis and hangs its own dissidents still gets the benefit of the doubt. A senior senator says he read the file, and an Iranian general said Friday that Tehran’s missiles can reach American and Israeli targets. Part of the blame here lies with the Administration’s press handling. EVERYONE should have known this – maybe not via the president as he has an odd way of delivering facts – but through one of the old school politicos that people trust.

Kennedy’s account is not public proof, but it matches what the President has said from the start. The White House should declassify as much as it safely can so Americans can judge it before the new Congress tries to cut off the war.

Voters had every right to be angry about gas prices, but that anger does not change what Tehran was building, and the President was right to stop Iran from hiding a bomb program behind a wall of missiles.

Europe knew what it dodged

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