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The move blindsided the State Department, Ukraine, European allies and members of Congress, who demanded an explanation from the Pentagon.

The move "was made to put America's interests first," a White House spokeswoman said, as U.S. munitions have been depleted in recent years.

A forensic pension investigator was hired to provide clarity about the fund's investments, the high fees it pays to big Wall Street firms and its lagging performance.

Unlike other countries that were able to develop nuclear weapons in secret, Iran cannot assume it will be able to keep its work hidden.

President Donald Trump dismissed an earlier Defense Intelligence Agency assessment as inconclusive and premature.

ICE told Congress in September that over 13,000 immigrants known to have committed murder remained at large. Since then, only 752 have been arrested.

From its inflexible diplomacy to its overreliance on proxy forces, Iran left itself vulnerable to more powerful adversaries, former U.S. officials say.

Though Congress acted after the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam to restrain presidents in their use of military force, recent decades have seen presidents pushing against those restraints.

Iran will never agree to halting all uranium enrichment and Israel must stop its air campaign before any negotiations can proceed with the U.S., the Iranian foreign minister said.

The Israeli assault may not spark a popular uprising, but it could fuel power struggles inside the regime and even trigger a coup, experts said.