US President Donald Trump today hit out at his intelligence chiefs branding them "passive" and "naive" in their assessment of the threat posed by Iran.
"Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school," Mr Trump tweeted.
The response came after US intelligence agencies said that Iran's nuclear threat has lessened.
And they told Congress that North Korea remained unlikely to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
Mr Trump tweeted: "The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. 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...."
He added: "....a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"
National intelligence director Dan Coats and other intelligence chiefs presented the Worldwide Threat Assessment report to the Senate on Tuesday.
They said that Iran continues to work with other parties to the nuclear deal it reached with the US and other Western nations.
In doing so, they said, it has at least temporarily lessened the nuclear threat.
In May 2018, Mr Trump withdrew the US from that accord, which he called a terrible deal that would not stop Iran from going nuclear.
Mr Coats also said intelligence information does not support the idea that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will eliminate his nuclear weapons.
But the president insisted on Wednesday on Twitter that the relationship with North Korea "is the best it has ever been with the US."
He pointed to a halt in nuclear and missile tests by North Korea, the return of some US service members' remains and the release of Americans once detained there as signs of progress.
Kim committed to denuclearisation after meeting with the president last year. A second Trump-Kim meeting is expected in February.
