Washington DC - The Trump administration released an image of National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard in the situation room as the US bombed Iran, amid speculation over her stance on the decision to launch the attack.

"President Trump's intelligence team in the White House Situation Room," read a post on an X account run by the White House, alongside a snap of Gabbard sitting together with other officials.

She was noticeable absent in photos released immediately after the US launched an unprecedented assault on Iran's nuclear sites.

As head of National Intelligence, Gabbard had previously irked Trump by testifying in a congressional hearing that Tehran was not close to building a nuclear weapon, directly contradicting the US pretext for joining Israel's war on Iran.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene explodes after Trump's attack on Iran: "Enough is enough"

Donald Trump US deploys stealth bombers to Guam as Trump contemplates Iran strike

She backtracked quickly on her comments, however, instead claiming without evidence that Iran was "within weeks to months" of obtaining the weapons.

Gabbard made her name as a critic of US entanglements in some foreign conflicts, although she has consistently supported the catastrophic "War on Terror" campaign launched by ex-President George W. Bush and continued by successive administrations since.