Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cautioned the administration of US President Donald Trump over engaging in war with Tehran, advising Washington to try diplomacy. RMA - Cardin told “Fox News Sunday” on Sunday that there’s "really not a military solution" to the US problem with Iran, and added, "We need to make diplomacy work. We have to reduce where we are, where we could have this miscalculation.”
“It would be disastrous if we got into a fighting war with Iran, it would not be in our national security interests,” he added.
A key Saudi oil facility was seriously damaged last Saturday in a raid by Yemenis drones. Washington and Riyadh insist, without providing any reliable evidence, the group was incapable of launching such an elaborate assault, and accused Iran of being the perpetrator. Tehran, however, has rejected the accusations of involvement in the attack on Aramco.
The attacks shut down about 50 percent of the kingdom’s crude and gas production, and cut the state oil giant’s crude oil supply by around 5.7 million barrels per day. A return to normal production could take months, not weeks, according to reports.
Cardin also stressed that Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal had made tensions with Iran worse, referring to the landmark agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“By pulling out of the nuclear agreement it’s the view of Europe that this is an American problem rather than an international problem,” Cardin told guest host John Roberts, saying, “We isolated the United States rather than isolating Iran.”
Tensions mounted between Tehran and Washington last May, when Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclaer deal, and re-imposed harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism. The American leader and his hawkish advisers former National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have since been stepping up pressure against Iranians.
The crisis saw a sharp rise on the first anniversary of Washington’s exit from the deal as the US moved to ratchet up pressure on Iran by tightening its oil sanctions and sending military reinforcements, including an aircraft carrier strike group, a squadron of B-52 bombers, and a battery of Patriot missiles, to the Persian Gulf region.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran hit a new high in June after the US sent a number of military aircarft to the Iranian skies under a tense climate of escalating threats, forcing the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force to shoot down one of the intruding American aircraft.
Following the recent attacks by Yemeni forces on Riyadh-owned major oil facilities, the United States announced it will send troops to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to bolster Riyadh's air defenses.
Iran has stressed that it will not be the initiator of any war, but reserves the right to self defense and will give a crushing response to any act of aggression by the United States.
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