Moj Mahdara, a Democratic Iranian-American entrepreneur and founding member of the Iranian Diaspora Collective, blasted Democratic Party lawmakers on Sunday over their negative response to Trump’s Iranian strike.

“I think that it is imperative that the Democratic Party wake up and get past their dislike of Donald Trump … and their feelings of international conflicts going on,” Mahdara began, noting that this operation has a broad impact that includes Gulf state security and “resetting our relationship with China.”

“Right now, 55% of the oil production that Iran produces goes to China, despite sanctions. You want to support the people of Ukraine? You want to end that war? You have to — there is no getting around dismembering this Islamic Republic. It is non-negotiable. It is not a want to have. It is a have to have,” Mahdara continued.

She added that the Iranian regime’s fall will reverberate around the world, not only altering the Middle East, but also impacting Ukraine, Venezuela, and China.

“And I think at this point, we have a tremendous opportunity. This will be like ending the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall. This is a transformational moment for humankind, for security, and as an American … this is in our interest to complete it,” said Mahdara.

After noting that she is a “huge Democrat,” she expressed how disappointed she is with the Democratic Party: “I do not see myself in them in this moment.”

🚨 HOLY SMOKES. CNN was just FORCED to air a Democrat Iranian-American EVISCERATING her own party for attacking President Trump!

“It’s imperative the Democrat Party WAKE UP and get past their dislike of President Trump!”

“I AM a huge Democrat. I am INCREDIBLY disappointed with… pic.twitter.com/RGAmS6Fzal

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 1, 2026

Prominent Democrats offered much criticism in the aftermath of the Iranian strike.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) promised to compel a vote on the War Powers Resolution introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).

“The framers of the United States Constitution gave Congress the sole power to declare war as the branch of government closest to the American people,” Jeffries said in a statement. He added that Iran is a “bad actor” that must be “aggressively confronted for its human rights violations,” but said the Trump administration should have sought congressional approval.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement on X that “Iran must never be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon but the American people do not want another endless and costly war in the Middle East when there are so many problems at home.”

The minority leader added that the administration must answer many questions about the scope of this operation, and said President Trump’s “fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable strategy.”

“The Senate should quickly return to session and reassert its constitutional duty by passing our resolution to enforce the War Powers Act,” Schumer concluded.

Democratic Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement, calling the strikes a “catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.”

“Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace,” the mayor added.

Some Democrats, like Sen. Jon Fetterman (D-PA), have broken with their party to praise the strikes.

“President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,” Fetterman said in a post on X. “God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel.”

Catherine Maxwell contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump dropped a thunderclap into the escalating showdown with Iran, declaring that United States forces alongside Israel have sunk nine Iranian naval ships and largely obliterated Tehran’s Naval Headquarters, gutting the regime’s surface fleet in a matter of hours.

The announcement lands just 24 hours after United States and Israeli forces eliminated Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — a decapitation strike that reset the board overnight. Now, the focus appears to have shifted from leadership targets to hard military assets at sea.

“I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important,” Trump wrote. “We are going after the rest — they will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters.”

The blunt message framed the joint United States–Israel operation as a decisive strike at Iran’s maritime backbone — not a symbolic exchange, but a direct dismantling of naval capability.

If confirmed, the loss of nine vessels — potentially including larger patrol or missile craft — would mark one of the most severe single-day blows ever dealt to Iran’s navy. The reported destruction of naval headquarters compounds that impact, targeting both ships and the command structure directing them.

For decades, Tehran has relied on asymmetric naval tactics, fast-attack craft, and choke-point pressure near the Strait of Hormuz to project power and threaten global shipping. A shattered surface fleet dramatically weakens that leverage and limits the regime’s ability to flex in the Gulf.

Trump made clear the campaign is ongoing.

“We are going after the rest,” he warned — signaling that additional strikes could follow as the operation widens.

Iran’s naval forces are led by Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, commander of the regular Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, and Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. It remains unclear whether either commander was present at the naval headquarters or harmed in the recent strikes.

With Wall Street closed on Sunday, attention now turns to oil futures when trading resumes later in the evening. Energy markets will be watching closely for signs of disruption in the Persian Gulf. Bitcoin, which trades around the clock, briefly dipped on the headline before rebounding, reflecting the immediate shock and rapid repositioning typical of geopolitical escalations.

Iran still retains missile forces, drones, and proxy networks capable of responding. But if the scope of these reported naval losses holds, Tehran’s blue-water ambitions may have been set back dramatically in a single sweep.