Rep. John Garamendi (D., Calif.) said the United States would be "justified" to "strike against an Iranian position" in order to defend American lives during an appearance on CNN on Thursday.
"My position, it remains the same, that if the president believes it is necessary to take offensive, kinetic action, that is, military strikes against Iran, that would require authorization from Congress," he said. "If, however, he moves, and I would hope he would make whatever moves are necessary to defend American lives and assets, and if that requires a kinetic, that is a strike against an Iranian position, if it's defensive, then in my view, that's justified."
Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance drone on Thursday, an attack the U.S. Central Command called "unprovoked."
The drone "was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system while operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz," Central Command said in a statement. "This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace."
"Iran made a very big mistake!" President Donald Trump tweeted earlier today.
Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iran is "fully prepared for war."
"We are not going to get engaged in a war with any country, but we are fully prepared for war," Salami said. "Today's incident was a clear sign of this precise message, so we are continuing our resistance."
Last week, the U.S. declared Iran was responsible for an attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said was part of "an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran."