Boston (June 21, 2019) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s authorization of military strikes against Iran in response to its shooting down an unmanned U.S. aircraft in international airspace and abrupt cancellation of strikes just minutes before they were to be executed.

“Pushed by warmonger John Bolton and Secretary Pompeo, President Trump has abandoned a functioning Iran deal, imposed unnecessary sanctions, re-deployed thousands of U.S. troops to the Middle East, threatened the ‘official end of Iran’, and nearly executed an unconstitutional, over-reactive military strike early this morning. Calling off these strikes was the right outcome, but America is only in this situation with Iran because President Trump and his war cabinet have no strategy for dealing with the real threats Tehran poses to American interests,” said Senator Markey.

“Trump’s actions have empowered Iran, riled oil markets, and made the Middle East more volatile than ever. Iran is restarting its nuclear program that had been halted under the nuclear deal, and its regional meddling is worse than ever. These are real threats that must be addressed.

“Strategy, not strikes is the only way we will build real security in the Middle East. Diplomacy instead of destruction is how we avoid yet another regional conflict that wastes American blood and treasure. Congress needs answers regarding the legal reasoning behind this action because the American people have a right to know why the President nearly started yet another potentially disastrous Mideast war. And I urge Leader McConnell to bring to a vote next week the amendment that requires Congressional approval of any funding for a conflict in Iran.”

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