Washington DC - Republicans have largely welcomed strikes launched Saturday by President Donald Trump against Iran on Saturday, but prominent Democrats have condemned what they called an illegal move.

"Today, Iran is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions," including "terrorism," the murder of Americans, and the regime's sustained nuclear ambitions, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson said in a statement.

"We pray for the safety of our brave servicemembers and our allies involved in Operation Epic Fury," the top Republican in Congress added.

Many other Republicans hailed Trump's decisive action. Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Tom Cotton pointed to multiple grievances against Iran, including the 1979 hostage crisis and the deadly Beirut bombing of 1983.

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"Iran has waged war against the US for 47 years," Cotton posted on X. "The butcher's bill has finally come due for the ayatollahs."

For Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime supporter of US military intervention against the Islamic Republic, Trump's speech "will go down in history as the catalyst for the most historic change in the Middle East in a thousand years."

"It will be violent, extensive, and I believe, at the end of the day, successful," he added in a series of X posts. "The demise of the ayatollah's regime with American blood on its hands is necessary and more than justified."

Only a few Republicans have expressed opposition, including Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who both decried it as not being "America First."

Top Democrats have stood largely united in opposing the new war.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded a briefing from the administration to Congress about the war.

"The American people do not want another endless and costly war in the Middle East when there are so many problems at home," Schumer wrote in a statement.

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Senator Jack Reed, top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, argued Trump "has thrust our nation into a major war with Iran – one he never made a case for, never sought congressional authority for, and for which he has no endgame."

The administration "has left the American people in the dark about the true costs, risks, and duration of this conflict," he added.

Senator Bernie Sanders slammed Trump for triggering "an illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional war," saying the US administration "lied to" Americans and that the conflict would create further instability.

"Might does not make right. It creates international anarchy, death, destruction, and human misery," he said in a statement.

Senator Ruben Gallego assailed Trump for contradicting his campaign promises of reducing US military interventions and releasing all files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"Trump ran on exposing the pedophiles and stopping wars. Trump is now protecting the pedophiles and starting wars," Gallego added.