Moroccan athlete Nawal El Moutawakel celebrates her historic victory as the first Arab Muslim woman gold medalist at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in August 1984, in the US. Getty Images
Moroccan athlete Nawal El Moutawakel celebrates her historic victory as the first Arab Muslim woman gold medalist at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in August 1984, in the US. Getty Images

1984 - Nawal El-Moutawakel’s historic Olympic victory

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Updated 19 April 2025
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1984 - Nawal El-Moutawakel’s historic Olympic victory

1984 - Nawal El-Moutawakel’s historic Olympic victory
  • In 1984, the athlete became the first Arab Muslim woman, and Moroccan, to win a gold medal 

JEDDAH: On March 1, 2020, I was touring the Olympic Museum in Lausanne with the Riyadh United women’s basketball team, at the invitation of the former Swiss president, Ueli Maurer. 

The museum’s interactive exhibits take you on a historical tour, from the first Ancient Games in 776 B.C. to the father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who helped establish the International Olympic Committee in Paris on June 23, 1894. 

The first modern Olympics took place in Athens in 1896, with 14 countries taking part but no female competitors. At the next Olympics, in Paris in 1900, women were allowed to participate for the first time, wearing ankle-length skirts, but were limited to a few sports: sailing, golf, tennis and croquet. 

It was not until 1928, at the Games in Amsterdam, that women were allowed to compete in track and field. Fast-forward 56 years to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where Nawal El-Moutawakel won the 400-meter hurdles to become the first Arab Muslim woman, and Moroccan, to win a gold medal. Newspapers around the world marked this milestone, with Arab News publishing her winning picture on its front page. 

Even though I was at a very young age to remember that event, her legendary achievement stands as a landmark in the accomplishments of Arab and Muslim female athletes. After she won, King Hassan II of Morocco called her to congratulate her, and declared that all girls born that day were to be named in her honor.  

How we wrote it




Arab News’ front-page headline “Arab girl makes history” featured emotional El-Moutawakel raising her country’s flag in triumph.

As I reflect on my own experiences as a nonprofessional athlete growing up in Saudi Arabia, I will say that I come from a family who integrated sports into our lives from a young age. My siblings and I played tennis, football and even cricket with my father. I also attended private Saudi schools, which meant I had opportunities to practice sports. 

I found my passion in basketball. My uncle Tariq was my first basketball coach and he bought several rims and placed them on all family garages. 

In 2003, I formed a local basketball team with classmates from high school. This led me to establish Jeddah United Sports Co., which eventually became the first accredited sports academy in Saudi Arabia. The Jeddah United and Riyadh United women’s teams have participated in sports exchanges around the globe. 

As this was happening, other Saudi women began accomplishing their own milestones in sport. In 2008, Arwa Mutabagani was appointed the first female board member of the Saudi Equestrian Federation. Her daughter, Dalma Malhas, won a historic bronze medal at the Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010.  

In May 2012, I reached the base camp of Mount Everest with 10 Saudi women, headed by Princess Reema bint Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US, in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of physical activity in prevention and treatment. 

And in June 2012, Saudi Arabia joined the rest of the world in sending female athletes to the Summer Olympics. Wojdan Shaherkani competed in judo, and Sarah Attar ran the 800-meter sprint at the London Games. Attar might have finished last in her race but she received a standing ovation from 80,000 spectators, who cheered her across the finish line. 

Key Dates

  • 1

    Women allowed to participate in Olympics for the first time, at the Paris Games; Switzerland’s Helene de Pourtales is the first female gold medalist (her team won for sailing); Britain’s Charlotte Cooper is the first individual champion, in singles tennis.

    Timeline Image 1900

  • 2

    Nawal El-Moutawakel of Morocco wins the 400m hurdles at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the first Arab Muslim woman to claim a gold medal.

    Timeline Image Aug. 8, 1984

  • 3

    Saudi Arabia sends female athletes to the Olympics for the first time. Wojdan Shaherkani competes in judo at the London Games and Sarah Attar on the track; the latter receives a standing ovation as she crosses the finish line in the 800m heats.

    Timeline Image June 2012

  • 4

    Sara Ahmed wins bronze in weightlifting at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to become Egypt’s first female Olympic medalist.

  • 5

    Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first US athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab, wins bronze in the team saber event at the Rio Olympics.

    Timeline Image Aug. 13, 2016

  • 6

    Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launches Saudi Vision 2030, which includes plans to promote widespread participation in sports.

  • 7

    International Basketball Federation lifts ban on players wearing the hijab.

  • 8

    Rower Hussein Alireza and sprinter Yasmine Al-Dabbagh jointly carry Saudi Arabia’s flag at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, delayed for a year because of the COVID 19 pandemic.

    Timeline Image July 23, 2021

  • 9

    First Saudi female Olympic swimmer, Mashael Al-Ayed, secures a commendable sixth place in the women’s 200m freestyle heats at the Paris Games.

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan for national reform and diversification was announced on April 25, 2016. Its strategic objectives for social and economic empowerment include the promotion of sports and physical activities. Specific aims include increasing the proportion of individuals who exercise regularly from 13 percent to 40 percent; enabling Saudi athletes to perform at higher levels in a wide range of sports; and expanding Saudi participation at international sporting events. 

In 2017, the Ministry of Education approved a physical education program for girls in public schools, and in 2018 women in the Kingdom were allowed to attend sports events in stadiums, something previously strictly limited to men. 

At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, Saudi Arabia sent twice as many female athletes, four, compared with the London Games, and they once again included Attar. Arab and Muslim women achieved several milestones during those Games: Sara Ahmed of Egypt became the first Arab female medalist in weightlifting when she won bronze; and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who won bronze in the team saber event, was the first US athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab. 

On May 3, 2017, the International Basketball Federation announced it was lifting its ban on players wearing the hijab. This was a significant move because it is through the federation’s basketball World Cup that nations can qualify for the Olympic Games. 

In March 2019, another milestone of inclusion took place, at the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, when members of the Saudi team won 18 gold medals in various sports. 




El-Moutawakel on the podium after winning the women’s 400 Metres Hurdles at the Los Angeles Olympics. Getty Images

To help support the girls’ basketball team, the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee collaborated with the renowned Help Center, a non-profit organization that empowers, supports and trains girls and boys with intellectual disabilities. Jeddah United were asked to recommend players who could play alongside athletes with intellectual disabilities to form the Saudi women’s unified basketball team. It was implemented according to the “4P” concept: Public-Private-People-Partnership. 

The Saudi women’s unified basketball team made history at the 2019 Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, as the only team that was undefeated on their path to the gold medal. 

Later that year, Saudi women made a historic appearance at the sixth Gulf Cooperation Council Games in Kuwait, participating in eight events and winning two gold medals, in fencing. 

Since then things have only gotten better for Saudi female athletes. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Saudi sprinter Yasmeen Al-Dabbagh competed in the women’s 100m in the track and field events, while Tahani Al-Qahtani represented the Kingdom in the +78kg category of the Judo competition. 




Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Ali M Abutaleb celebrates advancing to the next round of her taekwondo women’s -49kg at the Paris 2024 Olympics. AFP

In a historic moment, Al-Dabbagh joined Saudi rower Husein Alireza in carrying the Kingdom’s flag at the opening ceremony. The 2020 Games were the first at which a male and female athlete could jointly have the honor of carrying their nation’s flag, as a result of a rule change to promote gender equality. 

At the Paris Olympics last year, 17-year-old Mashael Alayed became the first Saudi woman to compete in the swimming at the Games. She was one of three female Saudi participants, alongside Dunya Abutaleb, a bronze medalist at the World Taekwondo Championships in 2022, and Hibah Mohammed, the Kingdom’s sole female representative in the athletics competitions, who was granted a wildcard entry to the 100m sprint but was unable to compete after picking up an injury during training. 

The 2024 Olympics were also the first at which there was full gender parity, with equal numbers of men and women competing. 

And let us not forget the achievements of Reema Juffali, Saudi Arabia’s first female racing driver, who received a wild card entry at the F1 Academy season opener in Jeddah last year. 

As Saudi women continue to make tremendous progress in the sports arena, we can expect to see them excel in all fields, in the process inspiring future generations of female athletes to build on such milestones. 

In the Ancient Olympics in Greece, athletes competed in just one event: a foot race for men. Who could have imagined the course of development that would lead to an Arab Muslim female runner winning gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics? 

  • Lina K. Almaeena is co-founder and chairperson of Jeddah United Sports Co. She is a former member of the Shoura Council and was ranked on media company Forbes’ list of the 200 Most Powerful Arab Women. 


Pakistan urges IAEA to take clear position on Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites

Pakistan urges IAEA to take clear position on Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
Updated 5 min 13 sec ago
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Pakistan urges IAEA to take clear position on Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites

Pakistan urges IAEA to take clear position on Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
  • Pakistan’s envoy to the UN urges the Security Council to halt Israel’s military actions
  • He also stresses the IAEA must be allowed to continue its verification work ‘unimpeded’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clearly state its legal position on last week’s Israeli strikes targeting nuclear facilities in Iran while highlighting their grave implications for regional and international security.

The call came during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday, after Israel launched airstrikes about a week ago that killed several senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, triggering a direct military confrontation between the two countries.

Israel’s attacks came as Tehran was engaged in negotiations with the United States to reach a nuclear agreement. Iran has repeatedly stated it has no intention of building nuclear weapons but will not surrender its right to a peaceful nuclear program or halt uranium enrichment activities.

Israel, however, contends that Iran is close to developing a bomb. The United States has backed Israel in the conflict and called for Iran’s “complete surrender,” insisting Tehran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Pakistan, in its remarks to the Council, reiterated its condemnation of Israel’s “unjustified and illegitimate aggression,” describing the attacks on nuclear facilities as “deeply troubling.”

“It is the responsibility of the IAEA to clearly pronounce its legal position with regard to such attacks as well as to report to its Board of Governors and to the Security Council about the legal, safeguards, safety and security implications of such attacks,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the Council.

“The Agency should fulfil that responsibility,” he added.

The Pakistani envoy also denounced Israel’s widening war in the Middle East, including in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. He maintained that Tel Aviv’s attack on Iran had further inflamed an already volatile regional situation.

Ahmad also said the UN Security Council must act decisively to halt Israel’s military actions and prevent the situation from spiraling further.

He urged the Council to categorically reject Israel’s actions, promote de-escalation and support a comprehensive ceasefire.

The Pakistani envoy further called on the Council to denounce the targeting of nuclear facilities safeguarded by the IAEA, pointing out that diplomacy must remain central to resolving the Iran-Israel crisis.

“Dialogue and diplomacy in full adherence to the principles of international law and the UN Charter remain the only viable path to resolving the crisis,” he said. “This Council must unite in support of the Secretary-General’s call to end the fighting and return to dialogue and negotiations.”

Ahmad also stressed that the IAEA must be allowed to continue its verification work “unimpeded,” and should operate in an “impartial and apolitical manner” to ensure credible and objective reporting on matters under its mandate.


Trump confirms DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal, gripes about Nobels

Trump confirms DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal, gripes about Nobels
Updated 45 min 11 sec ago
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Trump confirms DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal, gripes about Nobels

Trump confirms DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal, gripes about Nobels
  • DR Congo and Rwanda officials expected to sign accord in Washington next week
  • Trump's campaign promise to quickly end wars in Ukraine and Gaza have both failed
  • But he believes he deserves a Nobel for his supposed mediating role in other conflicts

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump took credit Friday for a peace deal negotiated in Washington between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda — and complained that he would not get a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
The warring African nations said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they had initialed an agreement aimed at ending the conflict in eastern DRC — to be formally signed in the US capital next week.
“This is a Great Day for Africa and, quite frankly, a Great Day for the World!” Trump said in a Truth Social post confirming the breakthrough.
But his triumphant tone darkened as he complained that he had been overlooked by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for his mediating role in conflicts between India and Pakistan, as well as Serbia and Kosovo.
He also demanded credit for “keeping peace” between Egypt and Ethiopia and brokering the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements aiming to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab nations.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosts a signing ceremony in which Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, left, and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, right, pledge to work toward a peace deal at the State Department in Washington on April 25, 2025. (AP/File)

Trump campaigned for office as a “peacemaker” who would use his negotiating skills to quickly end wars in Ukraine and Gaza, although both conflicts are still raging five months into his presidency.
Indian officials have denied that he had any role in its ceasefire with Pakistan.
And the Republican greatly exaggerated the significance of the 2020 Serbia-Kosovo agreements, which were statements of intent thin on detail and that quickly unraveled.
Trump’s claims for the Abraham Accords being able to “unify the Middle East” have also yet to be realized, with war breaking out between Israel and Iran, and no end in sight to the conflict in Gaza.
The president said officials from DR Congo and Rwanda would be in Washington on Monday for their signing, although their joint statement said they would put pen to paper on June 27.
The resource-rich eastern DRC, which borders Rwanda, has been plagued by violence for three decades, with a resurgence since the anti-government M23 armed group went on a renewed offensive at the end of 2021.
The deal — which builds on a declaration of principles signed in April — was reached during three days of talks between the neighbors in Washington, according to their statement.
Trump has received multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations from supporters and loyal lawmakers over the years.
He has made no secret of his irritation at missing out on the prestigious award, bringing it up as recently as February during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Barack Obama won the prize soon after taking office in 2009, and Trump complained during his 2024 election campaign that his Democratic predecessor was not worthy of the honor.
 


Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks

Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks
Updated 24 min 16 sec ago
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Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks

Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks
  • Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons

JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON: Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks early on Saturday, a day after Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat and Europe tried to keep peace talks alive.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. in Israel (2330 GMT on Friday), the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Interceptions were visible in the sky over Tel Aviv, with explosions echoing across the metropolitan area as Israel’s air defence systems responded.

 

At the same time, Israel launched a new wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites in Iran, the Israeli military said.
Sirens also sounded in southern Israel, said Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service. An Israeli military official said Iran had fired five ballistic missiles and that there were no immediate indications of any missile impacts.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Interceptions visible in skies over Tel Aviv

• Israel says it targeted Iranian missile storage, infrastructure

• Iran says no talks with US under 'Israeli aggression'

There were no initial reports of casualties.
The emergency service released images showing a fire on the roof of a multi-storey residential building in central Israel. Local media reported that the fire was caused by debris from an intercepted missile.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.
Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.

 

Its air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran. The dead include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists.
In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks, according to authorities.
Reuters could not independently verify casualty figures for either side.

TALKS SHOW LITTLE PROGRESS
Iran has repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv, a metropolitan area of around 4 million people and the country’s business and economic hub, where some critical military assets are also located.
Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets on Friday, including missile production sites, a research body it said was involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the US "until Israeli aggression stops". But he arrived in Geneva on Friday for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy.
US President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that he would take as long as two weeks to decide whether the United States should enter the conflict on Israel's side, enough time "to see whether or not people come to their senses", he said.
Trump said he was unlikely to press Israel to scale back its airstrikes to allow negotiations to continue.
"I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens," he said.
The Geneva talks produced little signs of progress, and Trump said he doubted negotiators would be able to secure a ceasefire.
"Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one," Trump said.
Hundreds of US citizens have fled Iran since the air war began, according to a US State Department cable seen by Reuters.
Israel's envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the Security Council on Friday his country would not stop its attacks "until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled". Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the US might join the war.
Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that it would reject any proposal that barred it from enriching uranium completely, "especially now under Israel's strikes".

 


US federal judge blocks Trump effort to keep Harvard from hosting foreign students

US federal judge blocks Trump effort to keep Harvard from hosting foreign students
Updated 21 June 2025
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US federal judge blocks Trump effort to keep Harvard from hosting foreign students

US federal judge blocks Trump effort to keep Harvard from hosting foreign students
  • Homeland Security earlier withdrew the school’s certification to host foreign students after Harvard resisted Trump's interference
  • Harvard hosts roughly 7,000 international students, about a quarter of its total enrollment

WASHINGTON: A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to keep Harvard University from hosting international students, delivering the Ivy League school another victory as it challenges multiple government sanctions amid a battle with the White House.
The order from US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston preserves Harvard’s ability to host foreign students while the case is decided, but it falls short of resolving all of Harvard’s legal hurdles to hosting international students. Notably, Burroughs said the federal government still has authority to review Harvard’s ability to host international students through normal processes outlined in law.
Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security in May after the agency abruptly withdrew the school’s certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork for their visas, skirting most of its usual procedures. The action would have forced Harvard’s roughly 7,000 international students — about a quarter of its total enrollment — to transfer or risk being in the US illegally. New foreign students would have been barred from coming to Harvard.
The university said it was experiencing illegal retaliation for rejecting the White House’s demands to overhaul Harvard policies related to campus protests, admissions, hiring and more. Burroughs temporarily had halted the government’s action hours after Harvard sued.
Less than two weeks later, in early June, President Donald Trump tried a new strategy. He issued a proclamation to block foreign students from entering the US to attend Harvard, citing a different legal justification. Harvard challenged the move, saying the president was attempting an end-run around the temporary court order. Burroughs temporarily blocked Trump’s proclamation as well. That emergency block remains in effect, and Burroughs did not address the proclamation in her order Friday.
“We expect the judge to issue a more enduring decision in the coming days,” Harvard said Friday in an email to international students. “Our Schools will continue to make contingency plans toward ensuring that our international students and scholars can pursue their academic work to the fullest extent possible, should there be a change to student visa eligibility or their ability to enroll at Harvard.”
Students in limbo
The stops and starts of the legal battle have unsettled current students and left others around the world waiting to find out whether they will be able to attend America’s oldest and wealthiest university.
The Trump administration’s efforts to stop Harvard from enrolling international students have created an environment of “profound fear, concern, and confusion,” the university said in a court filing. Countless international students have asked about transferring from the university, Harvard immigration services director Maureen Martin said.
Still, admissions consultants and students have indicated most current and prospective Harvard scholars are holding out hope they’ll be able to attend the university.
For one prospective graduate student, an admission to Harvard’s Graduate School of Education had rescued her educational dreams. Huang, who asked to be identified only by her surname for fear of being targeted, had seen her original doctoral offer at Vanderbilt University rescinded after federal cuts to research and programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Harvard stepped in a few weeks later with a scholarship she couldn’t refuse. She rushed to schedule her visa interview in Beijing. More than a month after the appointment, despite court orders against the Trump administration’s policies, she still hasn’t heard back.
“Your personal effort and capability means nothing in this era,” Huang said in a social media post. “Why does it have to be so hard to go to school?”
An ongoing battle
Trump has been warring with Harvard for months after the university rejected a series of government demands meant to address conservative complaints that the school has become too liberal and has tolerated anti-Jewish harassment. Trump officials have cut more than $2.6 billion in research grants, ended federal contracts and threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
On Friday, the president said in a post on Truth Social that the administration has been working with Harvard to address “their largescale improprieties” and that a deal with Harvard could be announced within the next week. “They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right,” Trump’s post said.
Trump’s administration first targeted Harvard’s international students in April. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard turn over a trove of records related to any dangerous or illegal activity by foreign students. Harvard says it complied, but Noem said the response fell short and on May 22 revoked Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
The sanction immediately put Harvard at a disadvantage as it competed for the world’s top students, the school said in its lawsuit, and it harmed Harvard’s reputation as a global research hub. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the lawsuit said.
The action would have upended some graduate schools that recruit heavily from abroad. Some schools overseas quickly offered invitations to Harvard’s students, including two universities in Hong Kong.
Harvard President Alan Garber previously said the university has made changes to combat antisemitism. But Harvard, he said, will not stray from its “core, legally-protected principles,” even after receiving federal ultimatums.
 


Trump says his intel chief was ‘wrong’ to believe Iran was not building a nuclear weapon

Trump says his intel chief was ‘wrong’ to believe Iran was not building a nuclear weapon
Updated 42 min 18 sec ago
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Trump says his intel chief was ‘wrong’ to believe Iran was not building a nuclear weapon

Trump says his intel chief was ‘wrong’ to believe Iran was not building a nuclear weapon
  • Also says Israeli strikes could be ‘very hard to stop’ now that they are “winning”
  • After Trump's remark, Tulsi Gabbard says her statement was taken out of context

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Friday that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was “wrong” when she previously said that the US believed Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon, and he suggested that it would be “very hard to stop” Israel’s strikes on Iran in order to negotiate a possible ceasefire.
Trump has recently taken a more aggressive public stance toward Tehran as he’s sought more time to weigh whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility. Buried under a mountain, the facility is believed to be out of the reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs.
After landing in New Jersey for an evening fundraiser for his super political action committee, Trump was asked about Gabbard’s comments to Congress in March that US spy agencies believed that Iran wasn’t working on nuclear warheads. The president responded, “Well then, my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?”
Informed that it had been Gabbard, Trump said, “She’s wrong.”
In a subsequent post on X, Gabbard said her testimony was taken out of context “as a way to manufacture division.”
“America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly,” she wrote. “President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”
Still, disavowing Gabbard’s previous assessment came a day after the White House said Trump would decide within two weeks whether the US military would get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran. It said seeking additional time was “based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.”

But on Friday, Trump himself seemed to cast doubts on the possibility of talks leading to a pause in fighting between Israel and Iran. He said that, while he might support a ceasefire, Israel’s strikes on Iran could be “very hard to stop.”
Asked about Iran suggesting that, if the US was serious about furthering negotiations, it could call on Israel to stop its strikes, Trump responded, “I think it’s very hard to make that request right now.”
“If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing,” Trump said. “But we’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens.”
The president later added, “It’s very hard to stop when you look at it.”
“Israel’s doing well in terms of war. And, I think, you would say that Iran is doing less well. It’s a little bit hard to get somebody to stop,” Trump said.
Trump campaigned on decrying “endless wars” and has vowed to be an international peacemaker. That’s led some, even among conservatives, to point to Trump’s past criticism of the US invasion of Iraq beginning in 2003 as being at odds with his more aggressive stance toward Iran now.
Trump suggested the two situations were very different, though.
“There were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. And that was somewhat pre-nuclear. You know, it was, it was a nuclear age, but nothing like it is today,” Trump said of his past criticism of the administration of President George W. Bush.
He added of Iran’s current nuclear program, “It looked like I’m right about the material that they’ve gathered already. It’s a tremendous amount of material.”
Trump also cast doubts on Iran’s developing nuclear capabilities for civilian pursuits, like power generation.
“You’re sitting on one of the largest oil piles anywhere in the world,” he said. “It’s a little bit hard to see why you’d need that.”