U.S. bombings in Iran during weekend condemned by Hawai‘i congressional delegation

Hawai‘i’s congressional delegation in Washington on Sunday condemned the bombings of three Iranian nuclear facilities ordered Saturday by President Donald Trump in what was dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer” that rocketed the United States into the now nearly 2-week-old escalation of hostilities between U.S. ally Israel and adversary Iran.

The international community only had to wait on edge until early Monday morning (June 23) to find out how Iran would respond as the Islamic Republic launched multiple missiles toward a U.S. base in Qatar just before 8 a.m.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, relying on Almighty God and the faithful, proud people of Iran, will never leave any aggression against its territorial integrity, sovereignty or national security unanswered,” a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, as reported by CNN.

Iran launched a “powerful and destructive missile attack” on the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar in response to the U.S. attack during the weekend, the statement added.

Defense ministry officials in Qatar said the nation’s air defenses “successfully” intercepted a missile attack targeting the Al-Udeid Air Base and there were no deaths or injuries.

CNN reports say Iranian state media Tasnim reported that Iran’s operation was dubbed “O Abu Abdullah,” or “Blessings of Victory.”

The secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said the number of missiles rained down on the Al-Udeid Air Base was the same as the number of bombs the United States used June 21 to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities.

A senior White House official told CNN that initial U.S. assessments were that the Iranian missiles didn’t hit their intended targets.

CNN reported that multiple Middle East and North Africa countries — including Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman, as well as the Palestinian Authority president — condemned the Iranian attack on the U.S. base.

Escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran and now the United States and Iran not only have roiled the international community, they threaten to mire the United States in another Middle East quagmire.

The U.S. attack on Iran during the weekend was marked by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as “a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling.”

“We’ve all seen what happens when the United States gets dragged into an endless war in the Middle East — lives lost, trillions spent and no lasting peace or security,” said Hawai‘i U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, in a statement. “We cannot continue to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Trump’s decision to attack nuclear facilities in Fordow and Natanz with B-2 stealth bombers dropping “bunker buster” bombs and Isfahan with cruise missiles were aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

U.S. allies urged de-escalation. Others joined a growing chorus of those condemning Trump’s decision — nations such as Russia, China and even U.S. Middle East allies such as Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials, including some military, foreshadowed Monday’s attack on the U.S. base in Qatar, threatening more harsh repercussions.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — an influential military parallel to Iran’s conventional army — said Sunday those who violated Iranian territory would face “responses that will cause deep regret.”

Guterres said the world is on the brink of “descending into a rat hole of retaliation after retaliation.”

There also is potential for economic fallout from the U.S. strikes, with fear that Iran could close the the Strait of Hormuz.

That would put pressure on the global flow of oil supply, hiking the price of crude, with the consequences including increasing inflation in the U.S. economy and U.S. consumers paying more at the gas pump.

However, The Washington Post reported that oil prices tumbled Monday after Iran’s retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases in Qatar and Iraq.

One energy market analyst on Sunday described the response to the U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear sites during the weekend as “deliberately mild.”

Schatz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Saturday’s strikes in Iran reckless and dangerous — “an escalation that puts American lives at risk and threatens our national security.”

He added that the operation was carried out without approval from Congress and with no clear plan for what comes next beyond what he expects: more chaos and bloodshed.

Schatz’s Democratic colleague and fellow Hawai‘i U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, echoed his concerns, adding that she agrees Iran should not have nuclear weapons, which is why she supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Often called the Iran nuclear deal, the agreement was reached in 2015 between Iran and China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. It placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief on sanctions.

However, Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018 during his first term as president and his administration subsequently reinstated nuclear-related sanctions on Iran.

Efforts were being made to fully revive the agreement, as it remains in effect for the other participants, but despite the European Union’s diplomatic endeavors, it has yet to be restored.

Hirono also said only Congress can declare war, and the vast majority of Americans oppose another endless conflict in the Middle East.

Operation Eduring Freedom from 2001-14 and its follow-up Operation Freedom’s Sentinel from 2015-21 — often referred together as the U.S. War in Afghanistan — lasted about 20 years.

Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003-10 and Operation New Dawn from 2010-11, also called the second Persian Gulf War, lasted nearly 9 years and opened a second concurrent U.S. conflict in the Middle East.

U.S. Department of Defense data show nearly 7,100 U.S. military service members were killed and more than 53,000 were wounded from 2001 to 2021 in the two Middle East conflicts that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“The administration must immediately brief Congress as required by law and use all diplomatic tools at its disposal to avoid further escalation and instability in the region,” Hirono said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, a Democrat and one of Hawai‘i’s two members in the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a statement Sunday to Hawai‘i News Now that Trump’s administration hasn’t provided the required information to determine if Saturday’s attack was appropriate.

“Including whether diplomatic efforts were exhausted, whether there was a risk of imminent attack on our country and whether the administration consulted in any way with Congress as required by the Constitution and law,” Case’s statement said.

His Democratic Hawai‘i colleague in the House U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda also raised constitutional concerns about Trump’s actions and worried about the thousands of U.S. troops stationed in the region in the event of retaliation by Iran.

Those fears, of course, were realized today.

“We have tens of thousands of service members in the Middle East. Americans. Their families right now, can you imagine the worry that they have?” Tokuda said Sunday to Hawai‘i News Now. “We need to pray and put all our thoughts to making sure our service members are safe, especially given Iran did say that if the United States became engaged in this war, there will be consequences.”

Hostilities in what some have called a long-standing shadow war between Israel and Iran began escalating June 13 when Israel launched a major attack on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, including locations in the Islamic Republic’s capital of Tehran.

Trump called “Operation Midnight Hammer” a “spectacular military success” and said the targeted Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan were “completely and totally obliterated”¯ — without providing evidence — while addressing the nation Saturday evening from the White House following the attack.

The three locations are important sites for Iran’s nuclear program, including the nation’s largest uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a deep underground and highly secretive facility in the mountains of Fordow.

Democrats in Washington are in full agreement with Hawai‘i’s delegation, condemning the June 21 Iran bombings and questioning their legality.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said in a statement shared on social media that Trump’s “disastrous decision” to bomb Iran without authorization is a “grave violation of the Constitution and congressional war powers.”

“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,” her statement said. “It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

Rep. Adam Smith from Washington state, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, said during an interview Sunday with MSNBC that the president “just started a war with Iran.”

“We bombed Iran. That is an act of war by any definition, and Iran will likely respond to it,” he said.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also a New York Democrat, said in an NBC News story that no president should be allowed to “unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy.”

Schumer, following Iran’s counterattacks Monday, demanded an immediate classified briefing.

“The Trump administration should not make the same mistake it made this weekend by launching strikes without giving any details to Congress,” he warned in a statement reported by CNN.

“Operation Midnight Hammer” was even starting to sew seeds of division among Trump supporters.

GOP U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky on Sunday denounced the president’s decision to strike Iran and staunch MAGA loyalist U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia also spoke out in opposition to the military action.

For the most part however, Republicans on Capitol Hill stood behind the president’s decision.

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended Trump’s decision to order the weekend strikes in Iran and threw cold water on discussion about Congress taking action to limit the president’s war powers.

The House and Senate have previously scheduled briefings for Tuesday about Iran.

Johnson thinks Trump used his presidential authority “judiciously” to protect the 40,000 American service members in the Middle East.

The former constitutional attorney and Republican U.S. lawmaker from Louisiana added that he doesn’t think it’s the “appropriate time” or “necessary” for Congress to take up a war powers resolution.

NBC News reported that GOP U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said Sunday during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” that if Iran targets U.S. citizens in retaliation to the strikes on its nuclear facilities, “the military force you will see will make last night look like child’s play.”

The senior White House official speaking to CNN on Monday said Trump is willing to escalate U.S. military involvement, if necessary.

Tehran’s retaliation was anticipated, but the official said the president does not want more military engagement in the region.

Trump later on Monday even thanked Iran for the “early notice” about the Qatar air base attack, according to CNN reports and a social media post, adding “NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done.”

The president said he would like the Islamic Republic to “proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region” and will “enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”

“Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.