Democratic Sen. John Fetterman says war with Iran has been “effective”

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Wednesday he believes the U.S.-Israel war with Iran has been “effective” and is moving toward an “appropriate outcome.” 

“I think, overall, what’s accomplished is remarkable,” Fetterman told CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett in an interview Wednesday.

Pressed on whether the war was going “well,” Fetterman responded, “Yes, absolutely. I mean, I’m not sure it’s the right word I would choose for war, but I do think it’s very effective. And then I do think it’s moving towards the kinds of appropriate outcome.”

Fetterman argued that the conflict has shown Iran’s military capabilities to be weak, saying it’s “undeniable that Iran really never had the kind of capabilities to respond.”

“Overall, they have been unable to inflict any significant damage on American assets or in Israel,” Fetterman said, adding that Iran has been forced “to resort” to launching strikes on Gulf nations and disrupting the regional oil trade.

Iran has launched missiles and drones at Israel and at several U.S.-allied Arab states, including American bases in those countries — though the Trump administration says the volume of incoming strikes has dropped as Iranian missile launchers are bombed. 

Seven U.S. service members have been killed and around 140 have been wounded since the war began, according to the Pentagon. In one attack on a U.S. facility in Kuwait, six Americans were killed and dozens suffered serious injuries, including burns, brain trauma and shrapnel wounds, CBS News has previously reported.

Ship traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which normally accounts for the passage of about 20% of global oil, has been crippled by the war, sending oil prices spiking.

Fetterman told Garrett he’s the “only Democrat in the Senate” that supports the war, later adding he was “aware of how punishing it is as a Democrat to agree with him [President Trump] on anything.”

On March 4, a Senate resolution that would have blocked Mr. Trump from continuing to use military force against Iran failed in a 53-47 vote, with Fetterman the only Democrat to cross the aisle and vote against it.

Last summer, Fetterman also joined his Republican colleagues to vote against a measure that would have blocked Mr. Trump from using military force against Iran, the only Democrat to do so. 

On Feb. 28, hours after the U.S. and Israel launched their attack, Fetterman took to social media to express his support for the war effort, writing that Mr. Trump was “willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel.”

The senator said Wednesday that it is “very clear that” acquiring nuclear weapons is Iran’s “ambition.”

He also alleged that attempts by previous administrations to negotiate with Iran on its nuclear program failed, making the war “necessary.”

“Multiple presidents, through their administrations, have tried this, negotiation, treaties, all other kinds of techniques to work through our other allies in the region and cajole them, no incentives,” Fetterman said.

In 2018, Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an Iran nuclear deal that had been negotiated in 2015 by his predecessor, then-President Barack Obama.

At the time, Mr. Trump claimed Iran was “on the cusp” of acquiring nuclear weapons. Since the war began earlier this month, the White House and Israeli officials have reiterated their belief that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, though neither the U.S. or Israel has provided evidence to back up their claims.  

In a March 2025 report, the U.S. intelligence community determined that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. While Iran has long said its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes, it enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels.