US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has named Pakistan among the countries Washington sees as a growing missile threat.
She stated that Pakistan’s long-range weapons development could eventually put the America within range.
Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee while presenting the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment, Gabbard said Pakistan was among a group of states developing missile systems capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional payloads.
She specifically warned that Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile programme could evolve to include intercontinental-range capability.
Her remarks placed Pakistan alongside Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran in the latest US threat outlook. Gabbard also said Washington believes missile dangers facing the US will rise sharply over the next decade, with the total number of threats to the homeland expected to increase significantly by 2035.
Washington-based analyst Shuja Nawaz said the assessment appears to follow earlier US policy trends that treated Pakistan’s strategic programme with suspicion.
He noted that publicly known assessments have placed the range of Pakistan’s Shaheen-III missile below 2,800 kilometres and argued there is no clear rationale for Pakistan to target the United States or any country beyond the South Asian region.
According to him, such statements could hurt improving ties between Islamabad and Washington.
Another US-based scholar, Michael Kugelman, said the remarks were important but should not be overstated, noting that Pakistan was not singled out alone and was mentioned with several other countries in the broader missile threat assessment.
Beyond missile issues, the US intelligence report also flagged South Asia as a continuing source of security concern. It pointed to the risk of future crises between Pakistan and India.
The report also referred to militant threats in the region and tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, saying instability and cross-border militancy remain key concerns for Washington.
During the same hearing, Gabbard also discussed the ongoing war involving Iran, saying Tehran’s system had been weakened but remained capable of threatening US and allied interests in the Middle East.