By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press

After nearly two years of stark divisions over the war in Gaza and support for Israel, Democrats seemed at odds over policy toward Iran as progressives demanded unified opposition before President Donald Trump announced U.S. strikes against Tehran’s nuclear program. Party leaders were treading more cautiously.

U.S. leaders of all stripes have found common ground for two decades on the position that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. The longtime U.S. foe has supported groups that have killed Americans across the Mideast and threatened to destroy Israel. But Trump’s announcement Saturday that the U.S. had struck three nuclear sites could become the Democratic Party’s latest schism, just as it was sharply dividing Trump’s isolationist “Make America Great Again” base from more hawkish conservatives.

President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

While progressives in the lead-up to the military action had staked out clear opposition to Trump’s potential intervention, the party leadership played the safer ground of insisting on a role for Congress before any use of force. Many prominent Democrats with 2028 presidential aspirations were silent on the Israel-Iran war.

“They are sort of hedging their bets,” said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state who served under Democratic President Barack Obama and is now a strategist on foreign policy. “The beasts of the Democratic Party’s constituencies right now are so hostile to Israel’s war in Gaza that it’s really difficult to come out looking like one would corroborate an unauthorized war that supports Israel without blowback.”

After Trump announced the strikes Saturday, elected Democrats questioned Trump’s decision — particularly without authorization from the U.S. Congress.

“Horrible judgment,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”

Progressive Democrats used Trump’s ideas and words

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., had called Trump’s consideration of an attack “a defining moment for our party.” Khanna had introduced legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that called on the Republican president to “terminate” the use of U.S. armed forces against Iran unless “explicitly authorized” by a declaration of war from Congress.

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Khanna used Trump’s own campaign arguments of putting American interests first when the congressman spoke to Theo Von, a comedian who has been supportive of the president and is popular in the so-called “manosphere” of male Trump supporters.

“That’s going to cost this country a lot of money that should be being spent here at home,” said Khanna, who is said to be among the many Democrats eyeing the party’s 2028 primary.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, had pointed to Trump’s stated goal during his inaugural speech of being known as “a peacemaker and a unifier.”

“Supporting Netanyahu’s war against Iran would be a catastrophic mistake,” Sanders said about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sanders reintroduced legislation prohibiting the use of federal money for force against Iran, insisted that U.S. military intervention would be unwise and illegal and accused Israel of striking unprovoked. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York signed on to a similar bill from Sanders in 2020, but so far was holding off this time.

Some believed the party should stake out a clear anti-war stance.

“The leaders of the Democratic Party need to step up and loudly oppose war with Iran and demand a vote in Congress,” said Tommy Vietor, a former Obama aide, on X.

Mainstream Democrats are cautious, while critical

The staunch support from the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for Israel’s war against Hamas loomed over the party’s White House ticket in 2024, even with the criticism of Israel’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Trump exploited the divisions to make inroads with Arab American voters and Orthodox Jews on his way back to the White House.

Today, the Israel-Iran war is the latest test for a party struggling to repair its coalition before next year’s midterm elections and the quick-to-follow kickoff to the 2028 presidential race. The party will look to bridge the divide between an activist base that is skeptical of foreign interventions and already critical of U.S. support for Israel and more traditional Democrats and independents who make up a sizable, if not always vocal, voting bloc.

In a statement after Israel’s first strikes on Iran, Schumer said Israel has a right to defend itself and “the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security and defense must be ironclad as they prepare for Iran’s response.”

FILE – Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., was also cautious in responding to the Israeli action and said “the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment.”

Other Democrats have condemned Israel’s strikes and accused Netanyahu of sabotaging nuclear talks with Iran. They are reminding the public that Trump withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions negotiated during the Obama administration.

“Trump created the problem,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., posted on X on Wednesday. “The single reason Iran was so close to obtaining a nuclear weapon is that Trump destroyed the diplomatic agreement that put major, verifiable constraints on their nuclear program.”

The progressives’ pushback

A Pearson Institute/Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from September 2024 found that about half of Democrats said the U.S. was being “too supportive” of Israel and about 4 in 10 said their level of support was “about right.” Democrats were more likely than independents and Republicans to say the Israeli government had “a lot” of responsibility for the continuation of the war between Israel and Hamas.

About 6 in 10 Democrats and half of Republicans felt Iran was an adversary with whom the U.S. was in conflict.

FILE – Rep.-elect Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., stands as newly-elected House members gather for a freshman class photo on the Capitol steps, in Washington, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian American from Arizona, said Wednesday on X that Iranians were unwitting victims in the conflict because there were not shelters or infrastructure to protect civilians from targeted missiles as there are in Israel.

“The Iranian people are not the regime, and they should not be punished for its actions,” Ansari posted, while criticizing Trump for fomenting fear among the Iranian population. “The Iranian people deserve freedom from the barbaric regime, and Israelis deserve security.”

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and LISA MASCARO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans — and at least one Democrat — immediately praised President Donald Trump after he said Saturday evening that the U.S. military bombed three sites in Iran.

“Well done, President Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X. Texas Sen. John Cornyn called it a “courageous and correct decision.” Alabama Sen. Katie Britt called the bombings “strong and surgical.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., questions Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted: “America first, always.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Trump “has made a deliberate — and correct — decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime.”

Wicker posted on X that “we now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies.”

The quick endorsements of stepped up U.S. involvement in Iran came after Trump had publicly mulled the strikes for days and many congressional Republicans had cautiously said they thought he would make the right decision. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Saturday evening that “as we take action tonight to ensure a nuclear weapon remains out of reach for Iran, I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm’s way.”

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Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., were briefed ahead of the strikes on Saturday, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Johnson said in a statement that the military operations “should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said he had also been in touch with the White House and “I am grateful to the U.S. servicemembers who carried out these precise and successful strikes.”

Breaking from many of his Democratic colleagues, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, an outspoken supporter of Israel, also praised the attacks on Iran. “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” he posted. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities.”

Both parties have seen splits in recent days over the prospect of striking Iran. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican and a longtime opponent of U.S. involvement in foreign wars, posted on X after Trump announced the attacks that “This is not Constitutional.”

Many Democrats have maintained that Congress should have a say. The Senate was scheduled to vote as soon as this week on a resolution by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine requiring congressional approval before the U.S. declared war on Iran or took specific military action.

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, posted on X after Trump’s announcement: “According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop.”

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. forces have attacked three Iranian nuclear and military sites, further upping the stakes in the Israel-Iran war.

President Donald Trump said the strikes, which he described as “very successful,” had hit the Natanz, Fordo and Isfahan sites, with Fordo being the primary target. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed there were attacks early Sunday at all three nuclear sites.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on Jan. 24, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Israel launched a surprise barrage of attacks on sites in Iran on June 13, which Israeli officials said was necessary to head off what they claimed was an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs.

Iran, which has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with a series of missile and drone strikes in Israel, while Israel has continued to strike sites in Iran.

The U.S. and Iran had been in talks that could have resulted in the U.S. lifting some of its crushing economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran drastically limiting or ending its enrichment of uranium. Until Saturday, Washington had helped shoot down Iranian strikes on Israel but had not launched direct attacks on Iran.

Here’s a look at the sites Trump said the U.S. struck and their importance to Iran’s nuclear program.

Natanz enrichment facility

Iran’s nuclear facility at Natanz, located some 135 miles southeast of Tehran, is the country’s main enrichment site and had already been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. Uranium had been enriched to up to 60% purity at the site — a mildly radioactive level but a short step away from weapons grade — before Israel destroyed the aboveground part of the facility, according to the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Another part of the facility on Iran’s Central Plateau is underground to defend against potential airstrikes. It operates multiple cascades, or groups of centrifuges working together to more quickly enrich uranium. The IAEA has said it believes that most if not all of these centrifuges were destroyed by an Israeli strike that cut off power to the site.

The IAEA said those strikes caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area.

Iran also is burrowing into the Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, or Pickax Mountain, which is just beyond Natanz’s southern fencing. Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Two separate attacks, attributed to Israel, also have struck the facility.

Fordo enrichment facility

Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordo is located some 60 miles southwest of Tehran. It also hosts centrifuge cascades, but isn’t as big as Natanz. Its construction began at least in 2007, according to the IAEA, although Iran only informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog about the facility in 2009 after the U.S. and allied Western intelligence agencies became aware of its existence.

FILE – This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on April 1, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP, File)

Buried under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries, Fordo appears designed to withstand airstrikes. Military experts have said it could likely only be targeted by “bunker buster” bombs — a term for bombs that are designed to penetrate deep below the surface before exploding — such as the latest GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb in the American arsenal. The roughly 30,000 pound precision-guided bomb is designed to attack deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels.

The U.S. has only configured and programed its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to deliver that bomb, according to the Air Force. The B-2 is only flown by the Air Force, and is produced by Northrop Grumman, meaning that Washington would have to be involved in such an operation.

Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center

The facility in Isfahan, some 215 miles southeast of Tehran, employs thousands of nuclear scientists. It also is home to three Chinese research reactors and laboratories associated with the country’s atomic program.

Israel has struck buildings at the Isfahan nuclear site, among them a uranium conversion facility. The IAEA said there has been no sign of increased radiation at the site.

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Other nuclear sites

Iran has several other sites in its nuclear program that were not announced as targets in the U.S. strikes.

Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, some 465 miles south of Tehran. Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA.

The Arak heavy water reactor is 155 miles southwest of Tehran. Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns.

The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country’s atomic program. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns.

Associated Press staff writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Scott Miller, a former Twins beat reporter for the Pioneer Press who went on to become one of the nation’s pre-eminent baseball writers, died Saturday after a long illness. He was 62.

Miller came to Minnesota from the Los Angeles Times. He covered the Twins for six seasons, 1994-99, before leaving St. Paul to become the national baseball reporter for CBS Sports’ website.

“Heartbroken to share: Baseball lost a giant,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, a longtime friend, posted on X. “Scott Miller was a brilliant writer and an even better human.”

Through the years, Miller’s byline appeared in the New York Times and Bleacher Report. He was a frequent contributor to MLB Radio on satellite, and for several years he made regular appearances on television broadcasts for the San Diego Padres.

Miller also wrote two books about baseball: “Ninety Percent Mental” and “Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will.”

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