Iran-US war latest: Senate fails to curb Trump’s war powers as Israel carries out more strikes in Tehran

Republicans know ‘forever wars’ are unpopular, Eric Garcia writes. So they are coming up with tortured definitions of what a war is.

The Israeli Air Force carried out wide-scale strikes against targets in western and central Iran, the military said on Wednesday.

”Dozens of assets belonging to the regime’s ballistic missile array were dismantled in the strikes, including missile launchers and defense systems deployed in the area that constituted a threat to the Israeli Air Force’s aircraft,” it said.

“Some of the launchers were struck while Iranian operatives were preparing to use them, with the launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory.”

More than 2,000 Canadians have requested help from the Canadian government to leave the Middle East, a Canadian official told Reuters.

While many GOP lawmakers have expressed public support for President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran, some have privately raised concerns about the military operation — with one drawing parallels to the U.S. invasion of Vietnam, according to a new report.

“Most Republicans want clear objectives, clearer than they are now,” one told Politico, noting that members have urged the White House to plainly articulate their goals to the American people.

Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes:

A vote in the US senate to limit Trump’s powers in Iran was shot down by Republicans in a 47-53 split on Wednesday night.

Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting no, while Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting yes.

The result was short of a simple 60-vote majority that would have moved the measure to the floor for another vote.

The GOP-controlled House is expected to reject a similar proposal in that chamber.

Iran will target the Israeli nuclear site of Dimona if Israel and the US push for regime change, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, citing an Iranian military official.

Donald Trump avoided mention of regime change as he spelled out objectives for his campaign on Tuesday.

He said his preferred candidates to replace the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have already been killed.

Pete Hegseth has also publicly walked back suggestions the US will push for regime change in Iran in recent days.

An Iranian official cited by Iran’s Tasnim news agency says no message has been sent to the US.

The comment was in response to an Axios report, citing a US official, saying the US was not responding to Iran’s notes (see: 21:44 post).

Drake University in Iowa on Wednesday paid tribute to alumnus Declan Coady, who was among the reservists killed in an Iranian attack in Kuwait.

Mr Coady, 20, was remembered as a “well-loved and highly dedicated Drake University student studying information systems, cybersecurity, and computer science”.

Earlier, his family told the WSJ how he was enjoying a busy deployment doing IT work in the Middle East. His father, Andrew, recalled his son saying it was the happiest he had ever been.

His 22-year-old sister, Keira, told the outlet she regretted not telling him once more than she loved him.

Debate is underway in Congress over war powers resolutions to curb Trump’s autonomy over Iran.

The Senate is preparing for an afternoon vote on the measure that would prevent Trump’s ability to continue engaging the U.S. military in hostilities against Iran without approval from Congress.

And in the House, which is set to vote Thursday, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered a lengthy speech calling out the Trump administration’s shifting rationale for the attack.

“Why is the president unwilling or unable to make his case directly to the American people?” he asked. “The president has a responsibility to justify plunging America into another war.”

Both resolutions are expected to fail in Congress, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a slim majority and largely backs the military operation in Iran.