TEHRAN – For his severe violation of international law and the US Constitution, President Donald Trump unilaterally ordered a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in Foldau, Natanz and Isfahan early Sunday, sparking immediate bipartisan condemnation in Congress and warning of disaster-related local escalation.
The attack, carried out without Congressional approval, has been criticized as “illegal offensive acts” by Iranian officials and “reckless gambling” by US lawmakers who fear being dragged into another endless war in West Asia.
The US strike continued for nine days to intensify Israel’s attacks on Iranian territory, killing more than 400 Iranians and injuring another 3,000.
Trump’s sudden departure from the G7 Summit marked impending military action, but the White House misguided the decision to be “two weeks.”
Constitutional Crisis and Magazine Fractures
Top Democrats quickly denounced Trump’s moves as unconstitutional abuse of power. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared part of the strike “a pattern of circumventing Congress” and emphasized that “the power to declare war exists only in the legislative sector.”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called for immediate enforcement of the War Powers Act, saying, “The President should not march the country unilaterally with unstable threats and strategies. President Trump must provide a clear answer on the impact on America’s security.”
Progressive Democrats were even more poignant. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that he risked “starting a generational war” by calling it a “serious violation of the Constitution” and “evidently a basis for each ammo.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar reiterated this, saying, “Military strikes without Congressional permission will only cause more violence and put the US military at risk.” Senator Elizabeth Warren categorized the bombing as “unconstitutional” and called for Senate votes to “prevent another infinite war.”
Senator Bernie Sanders amplified grassroots anger and announced the attack during his speech at the Tulsa Rally. After he accused it of being “surprisingly unconstitutional.”
Criticism has expanded beyond democratic classes. Libertarian Republicans Thomas Massey and Warren Davidson denounced the strike as unconstitutional.
“This is not a constitution,” Massey argued. Marjorie Taylor Green is usually a stubborn Trump ally, and “every time America builds greatness, and every time he is involved in another foreign war, if Netanyahu does not drop the bomb first, then the bomb will not fall on Iran.”
She warned Trump that the strike “fractured” his Magazine movement and cited basic fatigue from foreign interventions.
Intellectual conflict and diplomatic deception
Other lawmakers challenged the administration to justify the strike.
Sen. Chris Murphy said: “Last week, Iran was explained that it had not posed any imminent threats and had not approached the construction of its deliverable nuclear weapons.”
The senator pointed to the US intelligence community’s assessment that Iran is not building nuclear weapons and has no intention of building nuclear weapons, as provided by the National Intelligence Director during a briefing to Congress.
Former State Department spokesman Ned Price accused the White House of “diplomatic deception,” and Trump envoy Steve Witkov said he had involved Iran in talks several weeks ago while military plans were underway.
Iran held five rounds of indirect nuclear talks with the US from early April to late May, starting in Muscat and continuing in Rome after mediation by Oman. The sixth round was scheduled to take place in Muscat, but was cancelled following an Israeli regime attack that began in collaboration with Washington last week.
Sen. Mark Warner, vice-chairman of the Intelligence Election Committee, stressed that he had not received a strike briefing in advance, and called for Trump to “clear strategic goals” to protect American life.