Trump contested intelligence assessments relayed earlier this year by his spy chief that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon when he spoke with reporters at an airport in Morristown, New Jersey.

In March, Gabbard testified to Congress that the US intelligence community continued to believe that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon.

“The (intelligence community) continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon,” she said.

On Friday, Gabbard said in a post on the social media platform X that: “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. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”

She said the media has taken her March testimony “out of context” and was trying to “manufacture division.”

A source with access to US intelligence reports told Reuters the March assessment presented by Gabbard has not changed.

The source said US spy services judged it would take up to three years for Iran to build a warhead with which it could hit a target of its choice.

David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector, questioned the revised view offered by Gabbard on Friday, estimating it would take Iran at least six months to produce a crude nuclear “device” that could not be delivered by a missile.

To produce a nuclear weapon that could be delivered on target by missile would take Iran at least one to two years, said Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security.