'No endgame in mind': Arizona congressmen react to U.S. military strikes in Iran

Arizona’s congressional delegation split along party lines in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to strike three Iranian nuclear sites.

Republicans like Rep. Juan Ciscomani praised Trump on social media for making “the right decision to execute a successful strike on Iran’s lethal nuclear weapons sites.” He added that the military servicemen and women who carried out the bombings “helped make the world a safer place.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s ambitions to build nuclear weapons, though experts warned Iran may have moved much of its enriched uranium from the targeted nuclear facilities before those strikes occurred.

Other Arizona Republicans avoided commenting on the merits of the U.S. military strikes.

Late last week, GOP Rep. Andy Biggs told the conservative podcast Washington Watch that Trump was likely “reticent” to involve the U.S. in Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran’s nuclear capability. And he speculated that Trump would seek congressional support in the event the president was convinced U.S. military involvement was necessary.

Following the strikes on Saturday – ordered without congressional authorization – Biggs issued a statement praying for Trump’s wisdom and discernment and urged Iran to “come back to the negotiating table.”

Republican Congressman Eli Crane, a former Navy SEAL, likewise did not directly comment on the U.S. military strikes, but did share a national terrorism advisory bulletin warning of a “heightened threat environment” in the United States.

Democrats like Sen. Ruben Gallego demanded evidence that the strikes were necessary, and warned the president’s actions could escalate the U.S. into a war.

“The American people do not want to be dragged into another endless war in the Middle East,” Gallego said in a statement. “I would know. I saw close friends die next to me serving as a Marine in a high-combat unit in Iraq. Each of these deaths was needless.”

Sen. Mark Kelly warned Trump’s decision was a gamble with “no endgame in mind.”

The senator told NPR’s Morning Edition that, prior to Trump’s ordered attack, there was no clear and present danger to the U.S. and its troops. That, Kelly said, has now changed.

"The Iranians at any moment now could attack Americans. That wasn't a risk we had before this strike was conducted," Kelly said. "And my biggest worry here is – even though we tried to set them back in developing a nuclear weapon – this could be the moment that they make a decision to start building a bomb and further enriching that uranium."