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All tagged war
◢ The Senate voted to restrict President Donald Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran, with eight Republicans joining Democrats to approve a measure that would require express congressional approval before a strike.
◢ The Senate will take up a resolution this week intended to rein in President Donald Trump’s ability to attack Iran without congressional authorization, as Democrats and a small group of Republican senators push back following the killing in January of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
◢ US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Thursday said he preferred a “peaceful resolution” to a crisis sparked by attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, as Iran warned against “all-out war.” Pompeo has blamed Iran for the weekend assault on two facilities which wiped out half of Saudi oil production, dismissing its denials and condemning the “act of war.”
◢ President Donald Trump ordered more troops to the Middle East as the Pentagon blamed Tehran for recent attacks in the region, yet the small scale of the U.S. move signaled a desire to avoid a further escalation of tensions between the two nations. The U.S. will bolster forces in the region by about 1,500 troops, though Trump and the Pentagon said that the deployment is for defensive purposes.
◢ The US Air Force is deploying massive B-52 Stratofortress bombers to the Gulf in response to an alleged possible plan by Iran to attack American forces in the region, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The US move comes in response to intelligence about a threat orchestrated by Iran, officials said, but details of the threat have not been disclosed.
◢ Fears of conflict rose Monday as the United States vowed to send a message to Iran by deploying an aircraft carrier strike group, amid a report that Tehran would scale back its commitments under a nuclear deal after mounting pressure by President Donald Trump. Patrick Shanahan, the acting US defense secretary, said he approved the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to unspecified waters in the vicinity of Iran.
◢ The White House demanded that the military draft plans for strikes on Iran after attacks in Iraq last year, sparking concern at the Pentagon and State Department, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The report said the move came after a mortar attack launched by an Iran-linked group on the Baghdad diplomatic quarters home to the US embassy in September. No one was hurt by the shells, which landed in an open lot.
◢ Former secretary of state John Kerry voiced fear Friday of conflict with Iran after the United States pulled out of a denuclearization deal, saying regional leaders had privately pressed him for military strikes. Kerry spearheaded diplomacy that led to the 2015 agreement in which Iran promised Western powers, Russia and China to scale back its nuclear program drastically in return for sanctions relief.
◢ Tensions are mounting between Donald Trump and Iran—the US president's raw tweet threatening Tehran was met Monday with a similarly bilious reply, upping the ante in the high-stakes game of diplomatic chicken. Trump's tweeted warning late Sunday to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani—all in capital letters, the digital equivalent of shouting—sparked questions about Washington's strategy towards the Islamic republic.
◢ Tehranis said Monday they were deeply skeptical at Washington's claims that it stood with them against their government, as tensions rose again following the latest threats from US President Donald Trump. "It's true that at the moment our society is in a crisis and under pressure that is creating discontent," said Haleh, a child psychologist in the north Tehran suburb of Jordan. "But we don't want the West to impose a revolution that can lead to disorder," she added.
◢ President Donald Trump on Sunday hit back at bellicose comments by Iran's president, warning him of consequences "the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered," as the US intensifies its campaign against the Islamic republic. The high-stakes verbal sparring is reminiscent of the exchanges Trump had last year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, before the two leaders met in a historic summit last month.
◢ Iran's President Hassan Rouhani warned the United States not to "play with the lion's tail" on Sunday, saying that conflict with Iran would be the "mother of all wars.” Addressing his US counterpart Donald Trump, Rouhani said: "You declare war and then you speak of wanting to support the Iranian people.
