Thune warns Iran should return to negotiating table 'if they're smart'

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., doesn’t envision, nor want, the U.S. military becoming directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, but that hinges on whether the Islamic Republic rejoins the negotiating table.

"Dismantling Iran's nuclear program is what this is all about," Thune told Fox News Digital from his office in the Capitol. "And that can happen one of two ways. It can happen diplomatically — voluntarily — or can happen via force."

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Thune’s comments come as questions and concerns swirl on Capitol Hill among lawmakers about whether the U.S. will take a bigger, more direct role in the burgeoning conflict in the Middle East. There are active conversations among senators about what role Congress should play in whether to thrust the U.S. into an armed conflict or if that power should be ceded to the president. 

"The Israelis may not have the military capability to do everything that’s necessary," he continued. "If the Iranians are smart, they'll come to the table and negotiate this in a way in which they choose to end or disavow their nuclear program."

Israel and Iran traded missile strikes for a fifth day following the Jewish State’s late-night strike last Thursday, where critical infrastructure that would aid Iran in its pursuit of creating a nuclear weapon was damaged or destroyed. Notably, Israel has been unable to damage the heavily fortified Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

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Bipartisan resolutions requiring that Congress gets to weigh in and take a vote on going to war with Iran and disavowing an armed conflict entirely have circulated this week, while some lawmakers believe that the U.S. should go all in to snuff out Iran’s nuclear capabilities and back up Israel as fighting rages.

President Donald Trump has so far refused to say whether the U.S. would use direct military force to prevent Iran from creating or obtaining a nuclear weapon, and he has continued to urge Iranian leaders to negotiate a nuclear deal.

Still, the president met in the White House’s Situation Room on Tuesday with his National Security Team after leaving the G7 Summit in Canada early.

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Ahead of that meeting, he said on his social media platform, Truth Social, "We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran." In that same post, he noted that the U.S. was aware of where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was "hiding," but was not prepared to strike, "at least not for now."

But Thune was more cautious, and contended that "we'll wait and see what they do."

"I think right now, they're definitely on their heels," he said. "Their command and control has been taken out. Nobody knows who's really in charge."

"We'll see. If they're smart, they'll come to the table."

However, he hoped to see Iranians begin to rise up against the Ayatollah and believed that's when the "seeds of change" would begin to appear. He also noted that there are "a lot of things here that suggest to me, this may be that moment in time that we haven't seen since 1979," a reference to the Iranian Revolution that saw the overthrow of the monarchy in Iran and the subsequent creation of the Islamic Republic. 

Asked whether lawmakers would put forward a supplemental spending package to further aid Israel, Thune said, "We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it." But he envisioned that if one were necessary, it would be dealt with after the budget reconciliation process, when lawmakers work to fund the government during fiscal 2026 appropriations.

"I think, for right now, everybody is wishing the Israelis success and, again, hoping that the U.S. doesn't have to get further involved, but realizing what's at stake, and not only for Israel but for the region and the world," he said.