Cotton says U.S., allies looking at "weeks, not days" in Iran

Politics Sen. Tom Cotton says U.S., allies looking at "weeks, not days, of joint efforts" in Iran By Caroline Linton Caroline Linton Associate Managing Editor, Politics Caroline Linton is an associate managing editor on the political team for CBSNews.com. She has previously written for The Daily Beast, Newsweek and amNewYork. Read Full Bio Caroline Linton February 28, 2026 / 4:03 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Saturday that he believes that there could be "weeks, not days, of joint efforts" by the U.S. and its allies in Iran after the massive military mission launched overnight . "We're probably looking at weeks, not days, of joint efforts by the United States, Israel and our Arab partners, who have also been attacked this morning," Cotton told CBS News' Major Garrett. "But the upshot of it will be, after 47 years of waging war against the United States and the civilized world, the ayatollahs are finally going to face justice." The U.S. and Israel announced a major military attack called "Operation Epic Fury" against Iran early Saturday. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is presumed dead after the mission, U.S. and Israeli officials said. Saturday's strikes came after President Trump threatened the Iranian regime for weeks to make a new deal to rein in its nuclear program , and before that, threatened it over its violent crackdown on protesters in January. In retaliation, Israel's military reported multiple rounds of Iranian missile launches targeting the country, and at least two major U.S. military bases in the region were also targeted by Iranian missiles. Saturday's action follows airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities that the U.S. launched in June 2025 . Cotton is a member of the "Gang of Eight" lawmakers that include the top Democrats and Republicans and the heads of the House and Senate intelligence committees and who Secretary of State Marco Rubio said were ...