Josh Hawley says US operation in Iran seems 'open-ended' and 'very ambitious'

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said after a classified briefing on the US military operation in Iran that it sounds "open-ended" and that the "aims are ambitious." 

Hawley, as well as other senators, emerged from a classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the situation in Iran on Tuesday after the Trump administration and Israel carried out an attack in the country over the weekend. While some GOP senators said there appeared to be a timeline for the attacks, Hawley said that the operation appeared to be "very open-ended."

“It sounded very open-ended to me,” Hawley told reporters. He added that he would be unlikely to support boots on the ground and that the situation in Iran is a “rapidly changing” operation. “The military has accomplished a lot. So I think given the successes that they’ve had and the amount that they’ve accomplished, I would hope for a swift conclusion," he added, per CNN.

Some Democrats also echoed what Hawley said. “I think I’m more convinced now that this is going to be open-ended and forever,” Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said when he exited from the meeting. Senator Tim Kaine claimed that the operation in motion is "not quick," and that "a number of different objectives were discussed so but in terms of like, one clear objective, I think it’s still pretty murky."

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has been a proponent of US intervention in Iran, pushed back on claims that the Trump administration needed to articulate an imminent threat as a reason to attack Iran. “The idea of imminent threat to me is an odd thing,” said Graham, per the Courthouse News Service. 

“Who wants to let a homicidal maniac be able to get to the imminent stage of hurting you? If somebody is threatening my family, wants to rape your wife and burn down your house and kill your children, I don’t want to wait until they get to the gun store and the gas station," he added.

The Trump administration's special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday that during negotiations ahead of the strikes, Iran said it had roughly 460 kilograms of uranium at 60 percent enrichment, enough to make 11 nuclear bombs.  

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, said that the administration did not appear to rule out having boots on the ground in Iran.