Republican lawmakers welcomed Israel’s overnight attack against Iran and asked the public to pray for the Jewish State, which waged strikes against Tehran’s expanding nuclear program and military leadership.
“Game on. Pray for Israel,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a defense hawk, wrote Thursday night on the social media platform X.
Similar messages were posted by other GOP members of Congress since Israel unleashed an attack that, so far, has killed Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami, along with two other top Iranian generals.
Speaker Mike Johnson echoed President Trump’s consistent warning that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon in his response, commending the administration for working “tirelessly to ensure that outcome.”
“Unfortunately, Iran has refused to agree and even declared yesterday its intent to build a new enrichment facility,” Johnson posted to X on Friday.
“Israel decided it needed to take action to defend itself,” he added. “They were clearly within their right to do so. Iran will face grave consequences if it responds by unjustifiably targeting U.S. interests.”
Sen. Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also showed his support for Israel late Thursday, following the strikes.
“We stand with Israel tonight and pray for the safety of its people and the success of this unilateral, defensive action. I am also praying for the brave U.S. service members in the Middle East who keep America safe — Iran would be foolish to attack the United States,” he posted on X.
Israel performed at least five rounds of strikes against Iran, hitting dozens of targets, including the Natanz, one of Iran’s main enrichment facilities. Israel said the attack was unleashed to help prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message that the operation, dubbed “Rising Lion,” would last “as many days as it takes.”
“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz,” the prime minster said in his address, shared to X. “We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program.”
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Commitee, said that Israel’s “reckless escalation” threatens to ignite violence in the region and could jeopardize the safety of Americans stationed in the Middle East.
“While tensions between Israel and Iran are real and complex, military aggression of this scale is never the answer,” Reed said late Thursday in a statement.
“I urge both nations to show immediate restraint, and I call on President Trump and our international partners to press for diplomatic de-escalation before this crisis spirals further out of control,” the Democratic senator added. “President Trump must be crystal clear with the American people and the international community in charting a way forward. The world cannot afford more devastating conflict born of short-sighted violence.”
Iran retaliated, launching over 100 drones, some of whom are intercepted by the Israelis, according to the Israeli military.
Trump warned Iran Friday morning to accept a nuclear deal with the U.S. or it would face harsh consequences.
“I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
He added in a subsequent post, “Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!”
Iran, amid the tension, announced Friday that they were pulling out of the next round of nuclear talks that were expected Sunday in Oman.
