This came despite the fact that the United States and Israel launched on Saturday the most violent attacks on Iran in decades, resulting in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the sinking of Iranian warships, and the bombing of more than a thousand targets so far.
According to the two sources, the administration officials' testimony before Congress appeared to undermine one of the main arguments senior officials had put forward to justify the war, as they had told reporters the previous day that Trump had decided to launch the attacks for reasons including indications that the Iranians might strike U.S. forces in the Middle East "perhaps preemptively."
One official was quoted as saying that Trump was not going to "sit idly by and let U.S. forces in the region take attacks."
Earlier, White House spokesman Dylan Johnson said that Pentagon officials briefed, for more than 90 minutes, staff members of the Democratic and Republican national security committees in the Senate and House of Representatives on the ongoing U.S. attack on Iran.
Administration officials stressed during the briefing that Iran’s ballistic missiles and its forces in the region pose an imminent threat to U.S. interests, but the two sources, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said there was no intelligence indicating that Tehran intended to attack U.S. forces first.
Trump said the attack, which is expected to last for weeks, is aimed at ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, curbing its missile program, and eliminating threats to the United States and its allies. He also urged Iranians to rise up and overthrow the government.
For their part, Democrats accused Trump of waging a "war of choice" and criticized his justifications for abandoning peace talks that Oman, the mediator in the talks, said were still promising.
Trump argued, without providing evidence, that Iran was close to acquiring the capability to strike the United States with ballistic missiles, while sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that US intelligence reports did not support this claim, and it appeared exaggerated.
These questions coincide with the US military's announcement on Sunday of its first casualties among its forces since the outbreak of the conflict.
The US Central Command said three US soldiers were killed and five were seriously wounded, in addition to several others suffering minor injuries from shrapnel and concussions.
The military explained that US aircraft and warships have bombed more than a thousand Iranian targets since Trump ordered the start of major combat operations, including the use of B-2 stealth bombers that dropped 900-kilogram bombs on fortified underground Iranian missile facilities.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed that 27% of Americans support the strikes, compared to 43% who oppose them, while 29% were undecided.
