Cotton says U.S., allies looking at "weeks, not days" in Iran

Sen. Tom Cotton, the president of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Saturday that helium believes that determination could beryllium "weeks, not days, of associated efforts" by the U.S. and its allies successful Iran aft the massive subject ngo launched overnight. 

"We're astir apt looking astatine weeks, not days, of associated efforts by the United States, Israel and our Arab partners, who person besides been attacked this morning," Cotton told CBS News' Major Garrett. "But the upshot of it volition be, aft 47 years of waging warfare against the United States and the civilized world, the ayatollahs are yet going to look justice." 

The U.S. and Israel announced a large subject onslaught called "Operation Epic Fury" against Iran aboriginal Saturday. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is presumed dead aft the mission, U.S. and Israeli officials said. 

Saturday's strikes came aft President Trump threatened the Iranian authorities for weeks to marque a caller woody to rein successful its atomic program, and earlier that, threatened it implicit its convulsive crackdown connected protesters successful January. 

In retaliation, Israel's subject reported aggregate rounds of Iranian rocket launches targeting the country, and astatine slightest 2 large U.S. subject bases successful the portion were besides targeted by Iranian missiles. 

Saturday's enactment follows airstrikes connected cardinal Iranian atomic facilities that the U.S. launched successful June 2025.

Cotton is simply a subordinate of the "Gang of Eight" lawmakers that see the apical Democrats and Republicans and the heads of the House and Senate quality committees and who Secretary of State Marco Rubio said were briefed up of the mission. Cotton said Saturday that the existent ngo needs to not lone curb Iran's atomic programme but besides to "dismantle their panic enactment network." These objectives volition origin it to "take longer than the strikes connected their atomic programme past summer." 

Cotton said that there's "no question" that Iran is "at 1 of its weakest points since the gyration successful 1979," but the menace from their missiles "genuinely is imminent."

"As I said, they person thousands and thousands of missiles," Cotton said. "That's what they're utilizing to onslaught us, our Arab friends and Israel today. They person galore much missiles than we person rocket defenses. And the equilibrium lone gets worse. Every azygous month."

While the U.S. has undertaken subject missions without authorization from Congress, the Constitution grants Congress the sole powerfulness to state war. After the ngo successful Venezuela to region then-President Nicolas Maduro, 5 Republicans defected from the enactment to beforehand a warfare powers solution aimed astatine limiting Mr. Trump's powers, though yet the solution did fail in the precocious chamber. 

Republicans Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said they volition unit a ballot connected warfare powers solution regarding further Trump medication enactment successful Iran.