How US leaders, lawmakers and civil society reacted to Israel's strikes on Iran

Israel attacked Iran early Friday morning, striking, among other sites, nuclear facilities across the country and killing high-ranking Iranian generals.

Later on Friday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles targeting Israel, with several making impact in Tel Aviv. The wave of missiles continued at the time of writing. 

Israel’s surprise attack killed at least 78 people, including Hossein Salami, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israel struck residential areas, and civilians were among the dead, according to Iranian media.

Israel's brazen attack has drawn condemnation from several countries around the world.

In the US, however, the response has been mixed.

Several lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, expressed support for the attacks, while others, including sections of civil society, have raised concerns over how the developments could usher in more instability in the region, already heaving under a catastrophic Israeli war in Gaza.

Over 55,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza, which several countries, as well as many international rights groups and experts, now qualify as an act of genocide.

Here is a wrap of how American politicians, lawmakers and segments of civil society have reacted to Israel's attacks on Iran.

Politicians and lawmakers

Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied American involvement in the attack and warned Iran against targeting US forces in the region. 

Despite Rubio's comments that the US was not involved in the attack, President Donald Trump appeared to issue statements that suggested the White House was fully on board with Israel's actions on Iran.

"There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,” Trump said Friday.

Likewise, Republican Party officials appeared united in support of Israel’s attacks.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican, applauded the attacks and posted on social media that “Israel IS right—and has a right—to defend itself”.

Senator Lindsey Graham also praised the strikes, writing on social media, “hats off to Israel for one of the most impressive military strikes and covert operations in Israeli history”.

Democrats appeared more divided between pro-Israel hardliners and progressives. 

Representative John Fetterman from Pennsylvania applauded the attack, posting “Beepers v2.0 I love it. 🇮🇱”

He was referencing the surprise attack Israel carried out against Hezbollah last September, in which exploding pagers killed dozens and maimed thousands, including children.

Representative Ritchie Torres from New York, known to be a vehement supporter of Israel, also praised the attack, writing, “Israel is not the aggressor. It is defending itself against an existential threat that long predates the present preemptive strike.” 

Torres also noted Iran’s support for Hamas as a justification for the Israeli strikes.

Other Democrats, such as Chris Murphy and Ilhan Omar, condemned Israel’s strikes against Iran.

Democrat Jack Reed, a leading member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, decried Israel’s assault as “a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence”.

Advocacy groups

Several advocacy groups in the US have spoken out strongly against the attacks.

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) was quick to condemn the Israeli attacks.

“This strike was unprovoked and illegal under international law. It has needlessly put many innocent people in mortal danger,” NIAC wrote in a statement on Friday morning.

Similarly, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) criticised the strikes and urged the Trump administration to halt military aid to Israel.

In a statement issued on Friday, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said that Israel's targeted assassination campaign against Iranian military leaders, prominent scientists, and academics "once again displays its unrestrained campaigns of psychological terror, further destabilizing regional security and undermining global peace pleas".

"Israel, who has the largest nuclear arsenal in the region and who refuses to become party to non-proliferation treaties, is a rogue state determined to drag the United States into a constant state of war," the ADC said.

The ADC also said that Americans were against military action against Iran.

It cited a May 2025 poll conducted by the University of Maryland that found that 69 percent of Americans, including two-thirds of Republicans, preferred a negotiated agreement to military action against Iran’s nuclear programme.

Several Jewish organisations - both pro-Zionist and anti-occupation - issued statements of support and condemnation. 

Morriah Kaplan, from IfNotNow, said that the Israeli military’s "reckless attack on Iran needlessly puts the region on the brink of all-out war".

"The lives of Iranians, Israelis, Palestinians, and people throughout the region who do not want war are at grave risk.

"Instead of warmongering, the Trump administration and the international community must do everything in its power to deescalate and to stop providing the weapons Israel is using as they threaten a broader regional war," Kapalan added.

Meanwhile, the pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League (ADL) supported the attacks, saying they were conducted in self-defence and were necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran denies seeking the development of nuclear weapons.

The Palestinian Youth Movement wrote that “tonight’s airstrikes demonstrate clearly that Zionism and Imperialism’s war is one not against Palestine alone, but a war against the entire region”.