Iran Could ‘Soon’ Strike US with Long-Range Missiles, Trump Warns

The United States and Israel carried out military strikes against Iran on February 28, with President Donald Trump claiming Iran was developing nuclear weapons that threaten U.S. allies and could soon reach American soil.

Iran responded with counterattacks against Israel and countries in the Middle East hosting U.S. military bases, escalating tensions in the region.

In an eight-minute video shared on Truth Social, Trump outlined his justification for the strikes, ending with a warning about potential dangers for U.S. military personnel and urging Iranians to overthrow their government. The president stated that after bombing three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, the U.S. attempted to negotiate with Iran, but the country “rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions.”

“Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland,” Trump said in the video.

Trump’s assertions, however, contradict official intelligence assessments. A Defense Intelligence Agency report from May 2025 indicated that Iran remains years away from developing missiles capable of reaching the United States, suggesting such capability might not be achieved until 2035, if pursued.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio took a more measured stance when questioned about Trump’s claims. Following similar remarks in Trump’s State of the Union address, Rubio told reporters, “You’ve seen them increasing the range of the missiles they have now, and clearly they are headed in the pathway to one day being able to develop weapons that could reach the continental U.S.”

The military action was taken without congressional approval, marking the third unilateral military decision by Trump following the June 2025 strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and the January removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In response, Democrats and some Republicans in Congress are pushing for war powers resolutions on Iran to be considered next week.

Nuclear experts have expressed skepticism about Trump’s characterization of the Iranian threat. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, noted that U.S. intelligence has been making similar assessments about Iran potentially developing intercontinental ballistic missiles “in a decade” since the mid-1990s.

Richard Nephew, who worked on Iranian issues during the Biden administration, confirmed that while Iran has missiles capable of reaching parts of eastern Europe, intercontinental ballistic missiles remain “harder for Iran to achieve,” adding that such capabilities “are still many years away.”

The distance between Tehran and Washington, D.C., is approximately 10,000 kilometers, while Iran’s current missile range tops out at around 2,000 kilometers, according to Gary Samore, a Brandeis University professor and former Obama administration official.

Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, noted that these timelines don’t account for potential assistance from Iran’s allies like Russia, China, and North Korea, all of which possess intercontinental ballistic missile technology.

Developing such advanced weapons would require Iran to overcome significant technical challenges. Eliana Johns, a senior research associate at the Federation of American Scientists, pointed out that Iran would need to produce a nuclear warhead, successfully miniaturize it, and develop a missile capable of space launch and atmospheric re-entry.

Multiple news outlets, including The New York Times, CNN, and Reuters, cited unnamed American officials with intelligence access who claimed Trump exaggerated the immediacy of the Iranian threat to the United States.

Trump’s assertion that U.S. military operations had “obliterated” Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan also appears overstated. A November 2025 White House document described the strikes as having “significantly degraded Iran’s nuclear program” – notably less definitive language.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which normally monitors nuclear activities, has been unable to access the bombed sites to verify their status. This lack of access stems from Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which had previously enabled monitoring of the country’s nuclear program.

Without independent verification, experts remain skeptical about both the extent of damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities and the timeline for potential threats to American territory.