Washington DC [US], March 4 (ANI): Democratic senators sharply criticised President Donald Trump's handling of the war in Iran after a classified briefing with administration officials on Tuesday (local time), accusing the White House of lacking a clear strategy and dragging the United States into a prolonged conflict without congressional approval.

In a post on X, Senator Chris Van Hollen said lawmakers received little clarity during the closed-door session.

'Today, Congress was finally briefed on Trump's war of choice in Iran. Even behind closed doors, they couldn't get their story straight,' Van Hollen said on X. 'But one thing is clear: they don't have a clue what the end game is, and it sure as hell isn't making America safer.'

https://x.com/ChrisVanHollen/status/2028998993166905494

Speaking in a video posted on X, Van Hollen described the administration's messaging as 'complete incoherence.'

'What you hear behind closed doors is essentially what we're hearing in the public domain,' he said. 'No explanation for why Donald Trump broke his promise to the country when he said he wasn't going to drag us into additional wars and constantly shifting narratives about what this is all about.'

He said the President has offered varying justifications, from targeting Iran's nuclear program to addressing ballistic missiles and even 'liberating' the Iranian people, but argued those explanations lack consistency. Van Hollen also referenced public reporting about intelligence assessments warning of potential instability if Iran's leadership were removed.

He further criticised US alignment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, 'Here we are, doing what Prime Minister Netanyahu said he wanted to do for 40 years, which was to attack Iran.'

Senator Andy Kim echoed similar concerns after attending the classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

In a video posted on X, he said, 'I just stepped out from the classified briefing ... about the war in Iran. And that's exactly what it is. It's a war in Iran,' Kim said.

https://x.com/SenatorAndyKim/status/2028972373601394903

He added, 'Everything that I heard in there confirms that this is a war. The level of violence has been significant.'

Kim said the administration signalled that military operations are expected to intensify and continue for an extended period. 'This is something that they told us point-blank is going to go on for a long time and get even more violent. It's going to put even more Americans' lives at risk,' he said.

He also accused the administration of failing to adequately plan for the safety of American citizens in the region. 'My office has gotten a barrage of calls and emails from panicked Americans throughout the Middle East and their families,' Kim said, adding that officials 'did not do the planning ahead of time to be there for the protection of Americans.'

Calling the conflict 'a war without the approval of the American people through Congress,' Kim warned it would be 'reckless and dangerous,' noting that six Americans have already been killed and that officials indicated casualties could rise.

'We're going to do everything I can to be able to keep Americans safe and to be able to rein in this lawlessness that we're seeing,' he said.

In a news conference on Tuesday night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio once again justified the attack mounted by the US-Israel on Iran, saying that the world would be a better place once the radicals had no access to weapons of destruction.

'Iran is run by lunatics, religious fanatic lunatics. They have an ambition to have nuclear weapons. They intend to develop those nuclear weapons behind a program of missiles and drones and terrorism that the world will not be able to touch them for fear of those things. And this is the weakest they've ever been. Now is the time to go after them. The President made the decision to go after them, take away their missiles, take away their navy, take away their drones, take away their ability to make those things, so that they can never have a nuclear weapon.'

Rubio echoed US President Donald Trump, who described the Islamist Regime as 'crazy people' who would have used a nuclear weapon had they had access to it.

'If we didn't do what we're doing right now, you would've had a nuclear war and they would've taken out many countries because you know what? They're sick people. They're mentally ill, sick people. They're angry. They're crazy. They're sick. These people are crazy -- and if they had a nuclear weapon, they would've used it,' he said. (ANI)