MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – A Tennessee state senator who is half-Iranian is calling on the Trump administration to pursue diplomacy and involve Congress following Saturday’s U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran.

State Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat who serves as Senate Minority Leader, said the strikes have stirred complicated emotions within the Persian-American community.

“My father came to Memphis to go to the University of Memphis in 1977 from Iran. It’s always been a country that I’ve heard beautiful things about, but I’ve certainly not been able to experience it because of the regime that’s in place,” Akbari said.

Akbari said Iranians have long been waiting for an end to the authoritarian dictatorship in the country, but the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has left questions about how Iran will stabilize in the aftermath of the attacks.

“There’s hope but there’s also fear. There’s excitement but there’s also this deep sense of anxiety. What will this look like? We’ve seen in other Middle Eastern countries when regimes are removed and there’s this terrible period of instability,” she said.

Akbari said she hopes she will one day be able to visit the country her father was born in.

“That’s literally the other half of my heritage, and I think for all Iranian Americans, for Iranians who have left Iran and come to America, they hope for a free Iran,” she said.

Akbari urged the administration to proceed deliberately and avoid casualties among both American troops and Iranian civilians.

“There is a key difference between the Iranian governmental regime and the people of Iran,” she said. “Keeping their humanity in mind, making sure there’s proper aid, and also trying to mitigate any sort of civilian loss of life.”

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The United States launched military strikes and “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, President Donald Trump said, targeting the country’s missile capabilities.

“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump said, calling the strikes “a massive and ongoing operation.”

The attack follows weeks of rising tensions as Trump repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if negotiations over its nuclear and missile development programs fail.

Live updates: Iran hit by ‘massive’ US attack; supreme leader targeted: Updates

Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was directly targeted, a Middle Eastern official familiar with the matter told USA TODAY. Khamenei’s fate was unknown.

Iran launched retaliatory drone and missile strikes against American and Israeli targets after the joint U.S.-Israeli attack, hitting a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain. Iran said its enemies would be “decisively defeated.”

Images from Tehran early Saturday showed smoke rising from the Iranian capital as residents ran for cover. Iran said 40 people were killed in a strike at a girl’s school in the south.

Officials from the Volunteer State reacted.

‘It’s time,’ says Sen. Marsha Blackburn

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, praised the operation on Saturday morning, Feb. 28.

“The Iranian regime has chanted ‘Death to America’ for decades,” she said, in a statement on X. “It’s time to end the reign of terror.”

Alongside her statement, she shared the announcement made by Trump early Saturday morning.

“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard terrible people,” Trump said in a video statement, which he delivered from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The Trump administration has for weeks held negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program while also building up its military presence in the region. Tehran refused to abandon its nuclear ambitions, the U.S. president said, prompting the overnight airstrikes, which sent smoke plumes over Iran.

“They just wanted to practice evil,” Trump said in the video posted on social media. “And we can’t take it anymore.”

Sen. Bill Hagerty, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann support the operation in Iran

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty stated his support for the operation.

“The world knows the death and destruction that Iran has perpetrated for decades,” he said, in a statement on social media. “The regime must be held accountable.

“(Trump) knows that strength—not weakness—brings peace. The president will not pass the buck to avoid necessary decisions to protect the American people. May God bless America, our Service Members, and our Allies.”

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann echoed Hagerty.

“For decades, Iran and its theocratic dictatorship have been the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, threatening the United States and the peace of the world,” he said on social media. “President Trump will always defend America’s national security and interests. May God bless the men and women of our armed forces and our coalition partners.”

Rep. Andy Ogles thanks Trump and Israeli Prime Minister

U.S. Rep Andy Ogles thanked Trump, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the operation.

“I firmly stand with the people of Iran and support their right to take their country back from the mass murderer the Ayatollah. Thank you (Trump) and the White House for your leadership and (Netanyahu) for your partnership in securing freedom in the region.”

However, not everyone agreed with the strikes.

State legislator calls strikes ‘dangerous’

Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, called the strikes “dangerous for us all.”

“The leader of his proclaimed ‘Board of Peace’ is dragging us into an illegal war to deflect from his failures and profit donors in the war industry,” he said. “We are being led by a madman with no check from Congress and no clear justification to the American people.”