Media: CIA cuts Iran briefing to US Director of National Intelligence

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has halted its participation in certain intelligence assessments — including those linked to the Iran conflict — produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), amid escalating disputes over information-sharing and jurisdiction, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the situation.

The rift between the CIA and ODNI has been growing for over a year, disrupting cooperation on national security analysis that US presidents have traditionally depended on to manage complex foreign policy challenges, said a US official and three individuals with direct knowledge of the matter. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of internal discussions.

At the centre of the dispute is a task force established in April 2025 by Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, according to the sources. CIA Director John Ratcliffe has argued that Gabbard’s Director’s Initiatives Group has operated in a risky manner by bypassing established intelligence-sharing and declassification procedures, said two of the individuals. Meanwhile, ODNI officials contend that the CIA has repeatedly restricted the group’s access to intelligence information.

This breakdown in coordination between intelligence agencies comes at a sensitive moment for the Trump administration, as the US remains involved in the Iran conflict while also facing broader national security pressures, including China’s military expansion and Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

It also raises concerns that post-September 11 reforms, which created the ODNI to better coordinate the 18 US intelligence agencies, have not fully resolved long-standing institutional tensions.

Apart from ODNI-produced assessments, the CIA retains other channels to ensure its intelligence — including on Iran — reaches the president and senior policymakers. Such intelligence plays a major role in the Presidential Daily Brief, the highly classified daily summary prepared for the president.

Gabbard announced last week that she will resign as the president’s top intelligence official on June 30, citing her husband’s illness. Trump later said he would appoint Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence.

“The president and policymakers continue to receive the best intelligence and analysis" from the intelligence agencies, said Olivia Coleman, an ODNI spokeswoman, adding that ODNI and the agencies it oversees "communicate and collaborate daily with CIA counterparts across the full spectrum of intelligence products and operations."

Coleman also stated that the Director’s Initiatives Group "operated within ODNI’s oversight authorities and in support of the president’s executive orders."

Reuters reported in February that Gabbard had scaled back the group and reassigned its staff within the agency following congressional scrutiny of its activities.

By Jeyhun Aghazada