WASHINGTON: The United States has yet to spell out a “day-after” strategy for Iran following joint US-Israeli strikes that killed much of the country’s leadership, lawmakers from both major political parties said on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump has called for a change in Iran’s government, which has entered a period of uncertainty following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Saturday’s attack. The strategy Trump has publicly outlined so far hinges largely on the hope that the Iranian people will rise up and determine their own future after decades of repression.
Republicans expressed optimism about the attacks, while Democrats were skeptical they would lead to a favourable outcome, but lawmakers on both sides were uncertain about the immediate future.
Lawmakers appearing on Sunday morning talk shows all opposed deploying US ground forces to Iran.
“There’s no simple answer for what’s going to come next,” Senator Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee from Arkansas, said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a staunch Trump ally and defence hawk, echoed the US president’s call for Iranian people to decide who should lead their government.
