Trump suggests US intelligence chief should 'go back to school' because he knows more about Iran

Donald Trump has lambasted the US intelligence community as “extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran” after top officials contradicted the president’s claims surrounding the foreign adversary and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

"The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran," the president tweeted. "They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but a source of potential danger and conflict."

"They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge," he added. "There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran.

Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"

The tweets arrived National Intelligence Director Dan Coats released the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment, which concluded Tehran was not engaging in operations geared towards producing nuclear weaponry, while the North Korean regime remains steadfast in its refusal to give up its nuclear capabilities.

“We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival,” Mr Coats said.

He added, “Our assessment is bolstered by observations of some activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearisation.”

The president has repeatedly claimed his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has paved the way for the chance of denuclearisation along the Korean peninsula, telling reporters at the White House earlier this month, “North Korea, we’re doing very well. And again, no rockets.”

“There’s no rockets,” he added. “There’s no anything. We’re doing very well.”

Mr Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday the US faced major threats from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — the “big four” — including nuclear weapons and cyber warfare.

“While we do not believe Iran currently is undertaking activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device, Iranian officials have publicly threatened to push the boundaries of JCPOA restrictions if Iran does not obtain the tangible financial benefits it expected from the deal,” he said to lawmakers.