After the announcement of President Donald Trump that the The United States has made strikes on three nuclear sites in IranNew York leaders in Albany and Capitol Hill all responded to strikes with mixed messages.
“Iran cannot be authorized to have nuclear weapons,” said Republican representative Mike Lawler. “I fully supported Israel’s decision to strike Iran and fully support the deployment of American air assets to finish work.”
Republican representative Elise Stefanik also responded to Iran’s strike:
“President Trump and our brave American troops made the world safer by hitting nuclear weapons from the Islamic Republic of Iran that threatened the world,” said Stefanik. “Thank you President Trump and thank you to our courageous servants. He is now the moment of peace.”
Republican representative Nick Langworthy said he is resistant to the president’s decision, adding that “this action sends an unmistakable message: the United States will never tolerate an Iran with nuclear arms, and we will remain firm and flawless against attack and terror”.
Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has weighed and saying that action is impeccable.
“(Trump) risked launching a war that can trap us for generations for generations,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
The head of the Hakeem Jeffries House minority criticized the strike, calling for the congress to receive an immediate briefing in a classified setting and, claiming that the president assumes total responsibility for any negative consequences.
“Donald Trump promised to bring peace to the Middle East,” said his declaration in part. “He did not hold this promise.”
Meanwhile, housekeeper Kathy Hochul said her absolute priority was the New Yorkers and that she “receives intelligence briefs and closely monitored the situation in Iran alongside federal and local partners. New York State police work to protect risky sites and fight cyber attacks”.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said that she was “deeply concerned” by the decision and said that the Trump administration “should fully explain to the American people justify this military action and a strategy to avoid being mired in another Middle East war, and it must immediately give a complete briefing of intelligence”.
Trump said that the main nuclear sites in Iran were “completely and completely erased” in an address to the White House nation on Saturday evening.
A few hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the time for diplomacy had passed and that his country had the right to defend itself, saying that the United States had “crossed a very great red line”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.