NO WAR WITH IRAN: Tell Congress to Block an Illegal War

THE ISSUE

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high following the Jan. 3 surprise assasination by drone attack of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s elite Quds Force and the second-most powerful leader in Iran. Also killed was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units. On Jan. 7 Iran responded with a missile strike on two Iraqi bases used by US forces, and it appears they also shot down a civilian aircraft departing Tehran, killing all 176 people on board. Almost a week after the Soleimani assassination, Congress finally received the briefings on the attack it had been demanding. The briefings received bipartisan condemnation as insubstantial and weak. Even GOP Sen. Mike Lee called the briefing “insulting” and “demeaning.” On Jan. 9, the House passed a war powers resolution with bipartisan support, asserting that Trump must seek congressional approval before taking new military action against Iran. Both Reps Pingree and Golden supported it. The concurrent resolution does not require the president’s signature, but is also traditionally considered nonbonding. Another war powers resolution has been introduced in the Senate, which Sen. Angus King is cosponsoring. Sen. Susan Collins says she has not decided if she will support it. The Senate resolution is “privileged,” meaning Republicans cannot block a floor vote. Meanwhile, Trump authorized new sanctions against Iran on Jan. 10.

ACTIONS

• Contact Susan Collins. Tell her you want her to support the Senator Kaine’s war powers resolution and that you also want her to demand the declassification of the Trump administration’s rationale for targeting Soleimani. Find her contact info below or in our Civic Dashboard.

• Stay informed. Below is a brief run-down of significant events in the Iran crisis so far. Developments are coming fast. We’ll update this page as new information is available. You can also follow live updates from the New York Times.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10

• • • Trump signed an executive order authorizing new sanctions against Iran. These follow a series of steps Trump has taken over the last two years to ratchet up and renew wide-ranging sanctions against Iran and withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, despite all indications that Iran was in compliance.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 9

• • • Intelligence confirmed that the Ukrainian civilian aircraft that crashed after departing Tehran was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, likely by accident. The 176 civilian deaths are now part of the mounting collateral damage of Trump’s escalation.
    • The House passed a bipartisan war powers resolution, asserting that Trump must seek congressional approval before taking new military action against Iran.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8

• • • In a brief press conference, Trump backed away from additional military action against Iran and said the U.S. would impose economic sanctions. He also made a number of false claims in the short, 10-minute speech.
    • Republican senators Rand Paul (KY) and Mike Lee (UT) announced they will support the Senate war powers resolution after calling Trump’s press conference “insulting” and “demeaning.”

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7

• • • Trump walked back his threat to attack Iranian cultural sites.
    • Iran fired dozens of ballistic missiles at military bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops. No Americans were killed.
    • Just hours after their missile strike, a Ukrainian civilian aircraft departing Tehran crashed shortly after take-off, killing all 176 people on board – including 63 Canadians. 

MONDAY, JANUARY 6

• • • Two Democratic senators have called on the White House to declassify the war powers report submitted by Trump on Saturday.
    • More than 3,000 U.S. troops are being rapidly deployed to the Middle East.
    • Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced that the military would not strike Iranian cultural targets, contradicting Trump.
    • In yet another sign of the chaos within the Trump administration, Esper also denied that the U.S. was making plans to pull troops out of Iraq, contradicting a letter from U.S. Marines Brig. Gen. William Seely III, commander of Task Force Iraq, circulated online that claimed the U.S. would withdraw troops. Esper claims the letter was a draft and shouldn’t have been released.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 5

• • • The Iraqi parliament voted to expel all U.S. troops from the country.
    • Iran announced it will no longer honor any of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. On Trump’s orders, the U.S. withdrew from the agreement in 2018, the only nation to do so. 
    • The U.S. suspended its efforts to fight ISIS so it can focus on the pending threat of retaliation from Iran.
    • Trump said in a Tweet that he may strike Iran “perhaps in a disproportionate manner.” He claimed the Tweet satisfied requirements under the War Powers Act to notify Congress of any possible military attack on Iran. It likely does not. 
    • Despite international pushback on his threat to target Iranian cultural landmarks, including resistance from within his own administration, Trump doubled-down on the threat. 

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4

• • • Trump released a legally mandated war powers report to Congress following Soleimani’s assassination, but took the highly unusual step of classifying his rationale for taking the action, meaning that Congress cannot share the information with the American people. 
    • Members of Trump’s own administration expressed doubts about Trump’s justificiation for the assassination, calling the evidence of an imminent attack by Soleimani “thin” and pointing out that the extreme action was not recommended by military advisers. 
    • In a Tweet, Trump threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, a war crime under international law.