Rhetoric regarding tensions with Iran intensified Thursday as Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) issued a blunt warning about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s intentions toward the United States. The Iran showdown unfolds as President Trump presses Tehran to reach a nuclear agreement within days.
On the Senate floor, Kennedy declared, “The ayatollah not only thinks that I’m going to hell because I don’t agree with his religion — he wants to kill me.” He continued, “He wants to kill Americans and the Israelis and anybody who does not believe in his jihad and drink our blood out of a boot. And he’s acted on that, and that’s not acceptable.”
Tensions have risen over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. President Trump recently gave Iranian leadership roughly 10 to 15 days to strike a deal, warning failure could trigger U.S. military action. During his State of the Union address, President Trump stated, “I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror … to have a nuclear weapon.”
Kennedy cautioned that any agreement must include enforcement safeguards. “If we make a deal with Iran, let’s make sure we have a protocol to enforce it because, in my experience in watching the Ayatollah through the years, I wouldn’t trust this man if he was three days dead,” he said.
Lawmakers are also debating Congress’ role in potential military action. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul R-KY) plan to advance a war powers resolution that would limit unilateral executive action. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) emphasized that the priority is “to prevent them from having nuclear capability.”
Thune added, “In my view, if you’re going to do something there, you better well make it about getting new leadership and regime change.”
