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The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the future of the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and now the United States is “really up to Iran to decide.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., appeared on ABC’s “This Week” to discuss American strikes against Iran that he said had “severely damaged Iran’s critical nuclear infrastructure.”
“The supreme leader and the ayatollahs in Iran need to understand that President Trump means business,” Cotton said.
“They have a chance to sue for peace here, to dismantle whatever remnants of their nuclear program remain, and to continue to actually survive, because we haven’t targeted the supreme leader, we haven’t targeted their energy infrastructure, we haven’t targeted other critical infrastructure,” he continued.
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Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) speaks with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) as National Security Agency Director General Timothy Haugh, FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse appear during a Senate Committee on Intelligence Hearing on March 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik)
“That’s an implicit message that Iran still has things that they hold dear, that neither the United States nor Israel has struck. Iran needs to heed President Trump’s warning.”
When asked by ABC’s Jonathan Karl whether the U.S. would target Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Cotton said he would not “rule any single target in or out,” but made clear that President Donald Trump “does not bluff.”
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Timeline showing Operation Midnight Hammer. (Fox News)
“And there are still numerous targets that Iran holds very dear,” Cotton warned. “My message to the supreme leader is: Look at the lessons of history. Do not — do not tempt fate. Do not target Americans. Heed Donald Trump’s warning,” Cotton said.
The United States inserted itself into Israel’s war against Iran by dropping multiple “bunker-buster” bombs and firing dozens of missiles at Iranian nuclear facilities Sunday morning local time.
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Chairman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., arrives for the Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on “Worldwide Threats” in the Hart Senate Office Building on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )
Iran lashed out at the U.S. for crossing “a very big red line” with its strikes.
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“The warmongering and lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, according to the Associated Press, adding that he would immediately fly to Moscow to coordinate positions with close ally Russia.
Fox News’ Laura Garrison and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
