US intelligence assessment seen as pessimistic on a new round of strikes on Iran

On July 21, BlockBeats reported that US journalist John Hudson said American intelligence agencies hold a pessimistic view of a new round of military strikes targeting Iran. Current and former officials cited in the report said such strikes are unlikely to have a major effect on Iran and are also unlikely to soften Tehran’s negotiating position. According to US intelligence analysts, Tehran and Washington are stuck in an open-ended stalemate between war and peace, a situation they described as troubling as reciprocal hostilities between the two sides grow more deadly. The analysts also said intelligence assessments on issues such as Iran are not designed to make precise predictions about the future. Instead, they summarize the present situation and possible future trends based on all available classified intelligence, including human and technical collection, along with public information.