5 EYEWITNESS NEWS sat down with the Minnesota leaders for the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) in the wake of U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites on Saturday.

The direct military action could mark one of the most, if not the most, consequential moments of the Trump presidency amid uncertainty of what could come next.

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Iran has vowed to retaliate, and Israel braces for additional attacks, as tensions in the region hit a dangerous new level.

In an update Sunday evening, the Associated Press reported that Iran said that the U.S. “decided to destroy diplomacy” with its strikes on the country’s nuclear program and that the Iranian military will decide the “timing, nature and scale of Iran’s proportionate response.”

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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz reacted to the strikes in a social media post on Sunday morning, saying he’s “directed our public safety teams to be on heightened alert for potential threats to Minnesota,” adding, “While there’s no known threats at this time, we’ll continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly.”

President Donald Trump hailed the strikes as a “spectacular military success.”

Here at home, there were opposing reactions from the executive directors of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Minnesota Chapter.

Local JCRC executive director Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish also called the move a success and a necessary step toward weakening Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“The first word that comes to mind is gratitude for the incomparable men and women of the United States Military for their successful execution of this very difficult mission with precision,” Hunegs said.

CAIR-MN executive director Jaylani Hussein condemned the strikes as escalatory, expressing fear of a wider war on the horizon as a result.

“On this Sunday morning, Americans across this country and Minnesota should wake up and say, ‘No, we are not going to another war,'” Hussein said.

Addressing the nation overnight, President Trump called for peace from Iran, but he has not ruled out further military action.

“As the President put out last night, he wants peace,” U.S. Secretary of Defense and Minnesota native Pete Hegseth said during a press briefing on Sunday morning.

“As the president has directed and made clear, this is most certainly not open-ended. It doesn’t mean it limits our ability to respond. We will respond if necessary,” Hegseth continued.

“We are hoping and praying that he will deliver on his campaign promise, that he will end wars,” Hussein said Sunday afternoon, but he emphasized his fear of what could come next. “If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it is a duck. It is a war, and wars beget wars… And to be in a war with nearly 100 million people in Iran, this is not the way to go. Diplomacy is the way to go, and we need to remind our neighbors that this has significant costs.”

Asked if he shares concerns that the strikes could escalate into either retaliation, a wider war, or both, Hunegs said, “You have to be concerned about it, right?”

“No one wants violence to beget more violence, but the necessity of the cause, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, was hugely important,” he continued.

Those mixed views follow mixed messages on the credibility of the threat. The Associated Press has reported that Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and that U.S. intelligence has assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb.

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On the other hand, President Trump and Israeli leaders say Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon, making it an imminent threat.

“If you’re moving the world further away from a nuclear weapon…it’s important for the world, and it’s a step in the right direction,” Hunegs concluded.

“Any escalation of this war does not bring peace,” Hussein concluded. “We condemn it, but we call on President Trump’s promise of peace, and we are optimistically hopeful that he will get peace.”

Iran has already retaliated against Israel. Israeli officials said at least 19 people were hurt after Iran hit a few locations across Israel overnight.