John Thune: “over the weekend, American forces took action against the longtime threat posed by the mullahs in Tehran. For decades…”

“over the weekend, American forces took action against the longtime threat posed by the mullahs in Tehran. For decades, Iran has fomented terror throughout the Middle East, endangering U.S. servicemembers, U.S. citizens and personnel in the region, and many of our allies. In addition, Iran has relentlessly pursued the development of its own nuclear program, despite repeated violations identified by the international atomic watchdog, the IAEA. Iran is also aggressively growing the range and inventory of its ballistic missiles and launchers, an inventory that is already the largest in the region. Combine that with a Navy that aims to threaten a key shipping channel, and it is clear that Iran poses a serious risk to America's national security interests, as well as those of our allies and partners. President Trump and his administration relentlessly pursued a diplomatic solution to the threat posed by Iran, but the Iranian regime refused diplomatic off-ramps, so now the President is taking action. My prayers are for the success of the mission and, above all, for the safety of U.S. personnel in harm's way. Four U.S. servicemembers have lost their lives as a result of Iranian attacks. My thoughts and prayers today are with their families and loved ones and with their fellow servicemembers.”