WATCH: Tom Cotton Explains What Comes Next Following Khamenei Death

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, explained on Sunday what comes next in the Iran offensive after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death.

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Dana Bash, Cotton first noted that Iran has crossed numerous red lines over the decades.

“The red lines have been crossed … red lines of the civilized world, going back to the 1979 hostage crisis, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the bombing of the Khobar Towers, killing and maiming thousands of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan — those are the red lines that have been crossed,” Cotton said. “President Trump has finally put his foot down and made it clear that we will no longer tolerate the revolutionary violence of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Bash pressed the senator on what comes next: “But the question is the people below them, and whether or not you are confident, based on what you’re seeing, that enough of the Iranian regime was taken out that there really can be a change in leadership. And then the next question is, how does that work?”

Cotton explained that the first priority is destroying Iran’s military power, which the Islamic nation uses to attack Israel and Arab allies in the region. He added that just as Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, it cannot be allowed to have thousands of missiles in its arsenal either, “much more than the United States and Israel have in missile defense combined.”

“So what the American people see in the days ahead is going to be a methodical and systematic focus on Iran’s missiles, its missile launchers, and ultimately, its missile manufacturing capability, so they can’t continue to threaten our troops in Israel and our other friends in the region,” Cotton stated.

The senator concluded that while we don’t know exactly what the future holds for the Iranian regime, the people of Iran now have the opportunity to take their country back after decades of brutal oppression.

Intelligence Committee Chairman, Sen. Tom Cotton (R) tells Dana Bash Iran has crossed red lines: “There’s no doubt, though, that Iran is going to continue to target our bases in the region, our Arab friends, and Israel. That’s why it was so vitally necessary that we put an end to… pic.twitter.com/mE4TxM2S40

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) March 1, 2026