Cotton: Trump took 'decisive action' to ensure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapon

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Sunday touted President Trump’s “decisive action” in directing U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities this weekend.

In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” Cotton was asked whether he thinks the strikes destroyed the nuclear program or simply set it back.

“Well, I think we heard from General Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that obviously, we have a few days left of battle damage assessment,” Cotton said.

“But there's no doubt that, because of the president's decisive action, we have severely damaged Iran's critical nuclear infrastructure, which is what the president has said he would do for 10 years if we thought Iran was getting close to a nuclear weapon,” Cotton added.

Cotton said Americans have been “terrorized” by Iran for nearly 50 years, and for more than half that time, “American presidents have worried about them getting a nuclear weapon, have said that they'd never be allowed to.”

“Finally, President Trump has taken decisive action to ensure that they're not going to get nuclear weapons on his watch,” Cotton added.

Trump announced Saturday the United States had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites and called on Iran to make peace quickly or face more attacks.

“Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Trump said Saturday night in an address to the nation from the East Room of the White House.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine briefed reporters Sunday morning on U.S. strikes that hit three Iranian nuclear facilities.

The bombs targeted three nuclear sites in Natanz, Esfahan and Fordow, located inside a mountain. Six “bunker buster” bombs were reportedly dropped on Fordow, while more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles were launched at the other two sites.

The bombings put the U.S. directly in Iran’s crosshairs for retaliation and made it an active participant in the Mideast war, which Israel launched with airstrikes against Iran on June 13.