Three American service members were killed during the attacks, with five others seriously wounded.
The strikes came two days after the latest U.S.-Iran talks, as President Donald Trump pressured Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program.
A member of the Armed Services Committee, Turner, R-Dayton, appeared on CBS’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday morning to discuss the issue.
Turner argued that despite military action last June which “obliterated” some nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, the country remains a threat because it continues missile development and hasn’t abandoned its nuclear ambitions.
“‘Imminent’ here is that the Iranian regime continues to be a sponsor of terrorism and amassing missiles and inventory to where they have declared themselves an enemy of the United States and our allies, and where they have committed themselves to nuclear enrichment and refused to declare themselves as not pursuing a nuclear weapon,” Turner said.
Turner said the U.S. had an opportunity to counter that threat and should not wait until a nuclear weapon is fully assembled to act.
On Face The Nation, host Margaret Brennan questioned the urgency of Saturday’s strikes, pointing to a recent statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, in an interview with reporters in late February, said that Iran was not currently enriching uranium for nuclear weaponry.
“After their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it, and here they are. You can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it,” he said in the Feb. 25 interview. “They’re not enriching right now, but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”
Rubio’s statements came one day before U.S. and Iranian officials met in Geneva on Feb. 26 for talks about Tehran’s nuclear program, ultimately walking away without a deal.
But Rubio also stressed that nuclear weapons are not the only threat from Iran.
“Beyond just the nuclear program, they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans, if they so choose to do so,” he said. “These things have to be addressed.”
Turner also spoke on Face The Nation about the strike that killed Khamenei, which he said was not carried out by U.S. forces, but he stopped short of saying the supreme leader was targeted by Israel without U.S. permission.
“You know, the fact that that Khamenei has been a murderous authoritarian who has killed an unbelievable number of Israelis, they have absolutely, I think, a strong basis in which to do so,” he said. “I think it certainly shows that if you’re a murderous authoritarian, you’re at risk and it’s better to be a friend of the United States than a murderous authoritarian.”
Turner, instead, emphasized that the intention was to target military infrastructure, not to pursue regime change.
“That the United States was not undertaking regime change is very important,” he said.
However, during his speech on Saturday announcing the military operations in Iran, President Donald Trump underscored the U.S.-Israel operation as a springboard for such change.
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump said, addressing Iranians directly.
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