Iranian nuclear facilities are now “fair game” for future attacks by Israel, according to Florida Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz.
At least 180 missiles were launched at Israel by Iran on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. Iran launched its missile attack shortly after Israel began what it called a “limited, localized” ground invasion in southern Lebanon.
Iranian officials said that the missiles were launched partly in response to the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut last week.
Moskowitz, a staunch supporter of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), warned in a Tuesday afternoon post to X, formerly Twitter, that Iran had made a “mistake” by attacking Israel.
Drew Angerer
“Iran has made a mistake, it has put its nuclear facilities on the board as fair game,” Moskowitz wrote in response to an Open Source Intelligence Monitor post that cited U.S. officials predicting that Israel would “absolutely retaliate.”
While it was not clear that Israel was considering targeting any nuclear sites, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to retaliate, echoing Moskowitz by saying later Tuesday that “Iran made a big mistake” and would “pay for it.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the IDF via email on Tuesday.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York also weighed in on the Iranian attack, describing Iran as “a sworn enemy of the United States,” while saying in a statement that the country “stands with Israel, our Democratic ally in the region, and her right to defend herself.”
Republican House leaders said in a joint statement that Iran’s actions amounted to “an apparent coordinated terrorist attack,” while urging President Joe Biden‘s administration “to deliver a strong message to the Iranian regime that this unjustified violence and terror must end.”
The Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, also appeared to blame Iran’s attack on the “weak and failed foreign policy” of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, this year’s Democratic presidential nominee.
Tensions in the Middle East have been particularly high in recent weeks amid Israel’s escalating attacks on Hezbollah, which has been launching cross-border attacks on Israel during most of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Gaza-based militant group Hamas, which is also backed by Iran, launched a surprise attack on Israel.
Iran launched direct missile and drone strikes on Israel in April, with most of the weapons reportedly failing to reach their targets after being intercepted and destroyed by Israel and allied forces, including the U.S.
Biden said on Tuesday that the American military helped Israel to render the latest attack from Iran “ineffective.”
“Based on what we know now, the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” Biden said. “This is a testament to Israeli military capability and the U.S. military.”
