Chuck Schumer sparks conflict fears after secret Trump briefing on Iran

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has sparked fears the US is heading for war with Iran after a secret briefing from the Trump administration on Tuesday.

Schumer emerged after a closed-door meeting convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the ‘Gang of Eight,’ a select bipartisan group of lawmakers who receive classified national security briefings. 

‘This is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people,’ the Democratic veteran told reporters without elaborating on details. 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe was also in the room, hours before Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address at 9pm. 

Trump’s landmark congressional speech has already been overshadowed. Aides advised him to focus on domestic priorities including the economy and immigration, but sources say he will also address Iran.  

Schumer’s concerns were echoed by fellow Gang of Eight members as the US assembles its largest military force in the Middle East since the Iraq War.  

Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters: ‘I’m very concerned. Wars in the Middle East don’t go well for presidents, for the country, and we have not heard articulated a single good reason for why now is the moment to launch yet another war in the Middle East.

Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner suggested military action against Iran could come as early as Tuesday night. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer arrives at a press conference with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein ahead of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on Tuesday

Trump gestures as he waits for the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC on September 29, 2025

The Democrat called on Trump to explain ‘what our country’s goals are, what our country’s interests are and how we’re going to protect American interests.’

Warner said, nodding to Trump’s congressional address: ‘Maybe we’ll hear that tonight, but if we don’t hear it tonight, we need to hear it very, very soon.’  

Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are due in Geneva on Thursday for a third round of negotiations with Iranian counterparts. 

But talks to avert all-out war with the Islamic regime are rapidly deteriorating. Trump has ramped up his threats in an effort to bend Iran into agreeing a deal to end its nuclear program, but so far Tehran has refused America’s zero-enrichment demand.

Trump on Monday trashed reports that he is planning ‘fake limited strikes,’ amid claims that advisers are warning against an attack because the US is running low on missile stockpiles.  

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine warned Trump that US troops would be ‘sitting ducks’ as arms stockpiles had been depleted supporting Ukraine and Israel, according to reports. 

Trump dismissed the ‘fake news’ and said Caine and he agreed both that the US should avoid war with Iran but that it would be ‘easily won’ if necessary. 

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that a deal was within reach amid widespread protests against the government in Tehran. 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses to the public on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution according to Iranian state television in Tehran, Iran on February 9

‘We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests,’ Araghchi said in a social media post.

The minister added that a deal was ‘within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority.’

Araghchi vowed Iran will ‘under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon,’ but insisted on the country’s right to ‘harness dividends of peaceful nuclear technology’. 

‘We have proven that we will stop at nothing to guard our sovereignty with courage,’ he added.

Iran and the US held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, but negotiations collapsed after Israel’s attack on Iran triggered a 12-day war.  

Protests began in December, sparked by economic woes in the sanctions-hit country, before swelling into nationwide demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9, one of the largest challenges to Iran’s leadership in years. 

The unrest prompted a violent government crackdown that killed thousands of people.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, while warning the full toll is likely far higher.

Iranian officials acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by ‘terrorist acts’ fueled by the United States and Israel.

The January crackdown prompted Trump to threaten military intervention on the protesters’ behalf, though his focus soon shifted to Iran’s nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb but Tehran insists is peaceful. 

Since then, the US has carried out a massive military build-up in the Middle East aimed at pressuring Tehran into cutting a deal, even as the two sides pursue indirect negotiations.

Washington deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the Arabian Sea, and another, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has arrived at a US base in Crete en route to the region.