U.S. officials admitted during a closed-door briefing to Congress on March 1 that there is no intelligence indicating Iran planned a preemptive strike against U.S. military forces. According to Jin10, despite this acknowledgment, officials maintained that Iran's ballistic missile capabilities and its regional proxy forces pose an 'imminent threat' to U.S. interests. This admission comes a day after some U.S. officials told the media that President Donald Trump decided to launch a strike partly due to alleged intelligence suggesting Iran might preemptively attack U.S. military targets in the Middle East. President Trump emphasized that he would not 'stand by' while U.S. forces in the region faced potential attacks.