U.S. braces for Iran's response after strikes on nuclear sites: Weekend Rundown

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The United States is bracing for Iran's response after President Donald Trump launched punishing strikes on Iranian nuclear energy sites Saturday. It was the first time the U.S. has directly bombed the Islamic Republic.
The U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities, including the key Fordo site, with 14 GBU-57s, 30,000-pound 'bunker buster bombs,' according to the U.S. military.
On Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that while the U.S. did not want war, it will 'act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened.'
The next few days are of particular concern, according to two defense officials and a senior White House official. It's unclear whether any retaliation would target overseas or domestic locations, or both, the officials said.
In the days before Trump gave the final order for the attack on the nuclear sites, Iran sent a private message to the president that it would respond to such a move by unleashing terrorist attacks on U.S. soil carried out by sleeper cells operating inside the country, according to two U.S. officials and a person with knowledge of the threat.
While Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned of 'everlasting consequences,' experts say the country has limited options.
Iran's capacity to strike is narrower than it once was.
H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, told NBC News that Iran still has the power to attack, 'but only because Israelis haven't taken out all of their missile launchers.' Iran still has around 40% of its launchers, Hellyer said.
Iran's proxy network has also been battered by years of attrition with Israel and the U.S. Its most important ally, Hezbollah in Lebanon, has indicated it would not join the fight against Israel.
Iran may also lack staunch support from its neighbors — some Gulf nations stopped short of condemning the U.S. attacks on Iran, calling instead for de-escalation.
In what could prove to be a symbolic move, Iran's parliament voted Sunday to block the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of global oil passes. The final decision will be made by the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The strait is an international shipping choke point and blocking it could send oil prices soaring. It would also hurt Iran's own struggling economy and alienate neutral powers.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' cyber capabilities are formidable, and the U.S. considers Iran one of its four major adversaries in cyberspace along with China, North Korea and Russia.
While Iran lacks Russia's robust cybercrime syndicates or China's vast teams of sophisticated digital spies, the U.S. has in recent years accused Iranians of working for the IRGC.
If Iran conducts retaliatory cyberattacks, they would come in the wake of several rounds of cuts to the Trump administration's top civilian cyber defense agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. CISA's two former directors have both warned that the administration's cuts make U.S. infrastructure more vulnerable to hackers.
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Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. is not at war with Iran, but with Tehran's nuclear weapons program.
During an interview on NBC News' 'Meet the Press,' moderator Kristen Welker asked the vice president whether the U.S. was now at war with Iran.
'We're not at war with Iran,' Vance said. 'We're at war with Iran's nuclear program.'
Vance also declined to confirm with 100% confidence that the country's nuclear sites had been completely destroyed.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., meanwhile, brushed off concerns that Trump had acted without authorization from Congress.
'Congress can declare war or cut off funding. We can't be the commander in chief. You can't have 535 commander in chiefs,' Graham said, referring to the number of representatives and senators.
But Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said that the president can act militarily 'when there's a clear and imminent threat to U.S. citizens, to the United States, to the homeland.'
'That wasn't the case here,' Kelly said.
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com