Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Tuesday said Israel should have targeted Iran’s supreme leader as tit-for-tat air strikes between the two Middle Eastern rivals continued into its fifth day.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Fetterman replied when asked in an interview with Fox News about the sentiment.
“Yeah, I think they should have targeted him,” the Pennsylvania Democrat told “America’s Newsroom,” referring to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Absolutely gone — taken him out,”
“I think the way Israel operates, they just take out the leadership just like they did with Hezbollah,” he continued. “And they’ve already done that with the Iranian leadership, just took them out, even laying in their beds.”
The latest conflict between the nations broke out last week following after Israel launched a surprise attack on Tehran, targeting the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities and missile sites and killing several top officials and scientists. Tension in the region has only been exacerbated by the ongoing war in Gaza — and Iran has hit back with air strikes of its own.
Fetterman has been a staunch supporter of Israel throughout its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its conflict with Iran, posting Monday on social platform X that, “time’s up on Iran’s evil regime and its nuclear weapons program.” He also shared the photo of an Israeli flag.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t rule out targeting Khamenei, shortly after reports surfaced that President Trump shot down a plan including that course of action.
He reiterated the point on Tuesday, saying Iran’s leader may be an “easy target,” but there is no plan to take him out “right now.”
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
The president has also not ruled out the possibility that the U.S. may get involved in the conflict.
“We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved,” he told ABC. “But we are not at this moment involved.”
ABC also reported that Trump expressed interest in the possibility of mediation in the Iran-Israel conflict by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I would be open to it. [Putin] is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation,” the president told the outlet. “This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”
Trump has also been pressured about the U.S.’s role in potential peace talks since he departed from the Group of Seven (G7) summit a day early — but he has largely brushed off the idea. On Tuesday, he signaled the administration was looking for something “better than a ceasefire.”