Name: Mark Kelly calls Khamenei’s death a ‘good thing’ but slams lack of 'plan' in Iran: Full interview
Uploaded: 2026-03-01T23:05:24.000Z
Duration: 8 min 37 s
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And joining me now is Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.

Senator Kelly, welcome back to Meet THE press.

Let me start with what you just heard from Senator Lindsey Graham.

You heard him argue the world is now safer because the supreme leader of Iran is dead.

I mean, it's a good thing that the supreme leader is gone and some of the folks around him.

And I have to give a shout out to the young men and women of the US Military who, you know by their skill and, you know, focus on the mission and determination and patriotism, were able to conduct this operation.

But what I also heard from Lindsey and we saw in the president's tweet earlier today, is they're talking about hope.

The president said, hopefully, Lindsey a number of times said, we hope.

I mean, what is the, what is the strategic goal and how do we achieve it?

And my job here in the United States Senate is to make sure that this administration, you know, has a plan and doesn't put Americans, especially U.S.

Well, and you, of course, flew combat missions during the Gulf War.

Broadly speaking, do you support this military operation?

Well, I want to see a strategy, and I mean, broadly.

I mean, the president said the Iranian nuclear capability was obliterated last summer.

So is this about that, or is it about ballistic missiles?

Lindsey talked about ballistic missiles being able to range the United States, you know, reach the continental United States.

But they're trying to achieve it, which is true.

Or is this about, you know, getting rid of the entire regime, which is really challenging?

My concern here, you know, going forward is what happens now.

We saw in Iraq that in 2006, Saddam Hussein was finally killed, and

then over more than a decade, we lost 1500Americans.

I don't want to see a wide conflict in the Middle East.

Well, Senator Lindsey Graham says that it is possible to carry out this military operation without putting US Boots on the ground.

Do you think it is possible to continue with this military operation without putting US Boots on the ground.

I mean, for somebody, you know, myself, I've, you know, used air power in defense of this country.

You could even, you know, based on what happened, you know, previously, you could this summer, you know, you can even hit underground targets.

But eliminating things and fully taking out a capability is really challenging without putting people there on the ground.

Well, you know, let me ask you, because as you think about how long this military operation might be, President Trump effectively said, look, it's going to last at least the week ahead of the strikes.

vance said, quote, There is no chance the U.S. will be drawn into a prolonged war with Iran.

Do you accept that or do you think it's possible that this could become a prolonged military engagement?

And that's why we need to get back in Washington and have a discussion with the White House on this and have a vote.

Hey, you got the president and the vice president saying things that are 180 degrees out right in one hand not going to be prolonged and the other it could be a drawn out conflict.

Which one is it and what is your plan going forward?

And by the way, Kristen, I mean, if the Iranians decide to shut down the Straits of Hormuz, what is the plan there?

Because you're going to put a huge number of service members at risk.

And on the other side, if you don't do something about it, we could wind up with significant, a significant economic hit to the worldwide economy.

So these are complicated scenarios and complicated decisions.

And I think this administration, my sense is that they did not go into this with any kind of strategic plan.

It was an operation with no, nothing, no discussion about what comes next.

Let me ask you, speaking of the plan and the reaction from Capitol Hill, this is what Democratic Senator Jackie Rosen had to say about the strikes on Saturday.

She says Iran can never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Iran's support for ballistic missiles and terrorist proxies are some of the leading national security threats to the U.S.

Now, she does believe Congress should authorize any military action.

But do you agree with her central point, which is that Iran's military program and nuclear program did in fact pose a threat to the the United States?

And we can't allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon.

But you've got to remember this president tore up the Iran deal in his first administration and they were not close to what we call breakout capability with the enrichment of uranium.

They weren't that close to getting a weapon.

After that was torn up, they went further.

There was some damage done this past summer.

We have a lot of information about where their programs are.

Iran was not an imminent threat to the homeland.

Again, I'm going to reiterate, Khamenei being dead is a very positive thing for the region.

But we have a lot of service members there, a lot of equities.

They've got the, you know, the Houthis and Hamas that are, you know, in the region, Hezbollah.

There are options that the Iranian regime, whoever comes next, has to target US Citizens.

Two more quick critical questions for you.

If there is a war powers vote, Senator, will you be a yes?

Well, I'm going to have to take a close look at it.

I want to hear from the White House what their strategy is going forward.

I would say at this point it's rather unlikely that it would be, you know, they went into this with, without any discussion with us ahead of time.

And by the way, why on Tuesday during the State of the Union, didn't the president make a case to the American people on why he is going to conduct an attack on Iran?

And then just finally, Secretary Hegseth has had you in his crosshairs.