It looks like Trump's hard-line stances have brought US and Iran closer to a tense stand-off. But are they on the brink of a war? It is hard to say yet. Questions are mounting on President Trump regarding his tough talk on Iran. National security officials are heading to Capitol Hill to brief Congress. Lawmakers are warning the Trump administration it cannot take the country into war without approval from Congress, while Democrats are asking for a second opinion. Wariness is seen on part of Democrats as well as Republicans over the president's sudden policy shift in the Middle East.
“We'll have no choice,”Trump said while there are no talks with Iran he still wants to hear from them, “if they're ready”. Analysts feel that Trump's Iran policy is being pushed by National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has supported military strikes on Iran prior to this. Amid unspecified threats from Iran, Trump has stationed F-52 bombers at a military base in Qatar and evacuated non-essential personnel from Iraq.
The administration is sending Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and other top brass, including Gen Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, for closed-door briefings Tuesday with both the House and Senate. The intent, according to a source is to provide information and not to be partisan.
“If the Iranian threats against American personnel and interests are activated we must deliver an overwhelming military response,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina tweeted. But Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, an Iraq War veteran, tweeted that after having received “the same” intelligence briefing, that was not his conclusion. “That is not what is being said. This is total information bias to draw the conclusion he wants for himself and the media,” he tweeted.
Sen Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said it's important to more fully understand the situation. “I think Iranians think that our moves are offensive, we think their moves are offensive, that's how you get into wars by mistake,” he said.
According to defence officials, no additional Iranian threats or incidents had emerged in the days since the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group arrived in the Arabian Sea late last week. Iran, meanwhile, announced that it has quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity.
