Lawmakers emerging from closed-door intelligence briefings on Tuesday delivered a stark message according to sources: what has happened in Iran so far is only a preview of what is coming.

Senior Trump administration officials reportedly told members of Congress to brace for a campaign of destruction that would dwarf anything seen in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, with the assault set to intensify sharply within hours.

The Express understands, Senator Lindsey Graham, who spent months pushing Trump toward military confrontation with Tehran, left the briefing room with no ambiguity about what lies ahead. “This regime is in its death throes. The amount of firepower coming in the next day or two from us is going to be overwhelming,” he said.

“What’s coming in the coming days from us is going to be a lot bigger than it’s been in the last couple of days. The Arabs are in the fight now, so stay tuned,” Graham continued. “What’s coming toward the remnants of the regime is going to be overwhelming. The liberation of Iran is at hand. The gateway to peace is about to open.”

Senator Josh Hawley reportedly added that the operation was “very broad,” “rapidly evolving” and “really changing by the hour.”

‘Only just the beginning’

According to an NBC report, Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat with a background in State Department and national security roles under President Obama, said the administration had made no secret of its intentions on Capitol Hill.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and fellow briefers told members of Congress “that we should expect even stronger strikes going forward, which is, again, just ominous for the protection of American citizens in the region,” Kim told reporters. “This is only just the beginning of what several of them said is going to be a very long operation. This is a war. This is the Iran war.”

Rubio had been sending the same signal for hours before setting foot in the briefing room. The US would “unleash” on Iran in “the next few hours and days,” he told reporters, having said the day before that the “hardest hits are yet to come.”

Rubio addressed lawmakers alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs chairman

Retaliation and casualties

The opening US-Israeli assault eliminated Khamenei and gutted much of his inner circle, while tearing through the foundations of Iran’s military apparatus. Tehran has since hit back hard, directing strikes at American diplomatic posts and softer targets scattered across friendly nations throughout the region.

With departure increasingly difficult due to grounded flights and closed borders, the State Department has issued urgent warnings to Americans across 14 countries in the Middle East to get out without delay.

The human cost for the US military now stands at six dead. Four names were released Tuesday evening — all Army reservists who lost their lives when a drone found its mark at a facility in Kuwait.