Trump supporters back US‑Israel attacks on Iran as Democrats denounce them as a “war of choice.”

Allies of the Trump administration reiterated on Sunday the White House’s justification for the Israel‑U.S. strikes on Iran, while Democrats condemned the action as a “war of choice” that should have been cleared by Congress.

During Sunday’s television programs, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Armed Services Committee, and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham defended the attacks. In contrast, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, vice‑chair of the Intelligence Committee, and other Democrats praised the removal of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but insisted the administration now faces pressing questions.

“I won’t mourn the death of Iran’s leadership,” Warner told CNN’s State of the Union. “The issue is why now? Why hasn’t the administration explained this to the American public?”

Warner accused Trump of launching “a war of choice.”

“There was no imminent threat to the United States,” he said. “The president must appear before the people and Congress to justify why he has chosen to go to war.”

Warner warned that the strikes could draw the United States into a wider Middle‑East conflict. He added on Sunday that U.S. intelligence has limited insight into how Iran’s opposition to its theocratic rule will evolve or who might succeed Khamenei.

“Will the president’s supporters still call this a success if his successor is even more hard‑line and accelerates the nuclear program?” Warner asked, noting that Khamenei had overseen Iran’s enrichment effort but had not moved to full weaponization.

“We have very little visibility into what happens next,” he said. A popular uprising and a drop in regional violence “would be a wonderful outcome,” he added, “but I doubt that will occur.” He predicted that a deeply entrenched Iranian leadership “will fight fiercely to preserve its power.”

Administration supporters offered a different view, arguing that Iran was certain to keep targeting U.S. bases and allies in the region.

“That is why it was essential to end Iran’s 47‑year campaign of terror and revolutionary violence once and for all,” Cotton told CNN. He said Iran had repeatedly crossed the red lines set by the international community since the 1979 hostage crisis.

“President Trump has finally taken a stand and made clear that we will no longer tolerate the revolutionary violence of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Cotton added.

When asked whether eliminating Iran’s leadership would bring regime change, Cotton said the immediate concern was Iran’s military capability. “We have always said Iran must not acquire a nuclear weapon. It also cannot be allowed to maintain a vast missile arsenal, and that is what it possesses.”