On Sunday, February 2, The United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran. President Donald Trump ordered the attack without congressional approval.
There had previously been negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in regard to their nuclear weapons. President Trump demanded that Iran stop the enrichment of uranium inside their territory, which is the component that creates nuclear reactions. This can either be used to create nuclear energy sources, or nuclear weapons. Iran claims to only be developing nuclear energy, which is a right protected by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Abbas Araghchi argued, “this inherent right is non-negotiable and legally binding.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran stated that conversations about nuclear weapon developments were not on the agenda.
In an interview in regard to the negotiations, Minister Albusaidi stated, “The single most important achievement, I believe, is the agreement that Iran will never, ever have a nuclear material that will create a bomb. This is, I think, a big achievement. This is something that is not in the old deal that was negotiated during President Obama’s time. This is something completely new. It really makes the enrichment argument less relevant, because now we are talking about zero stockpiling. And that is very, very important, because if you cannot stockpile material that is enriched then there is no way you can actually create a bomb, whether you enrich or don’t enrich. And I think this is really something that has been missed a lot by the media, and I want to clarify that from the standpoint of a mediator.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-omani-foreign-minister-badr-albusaidi/
President Trump released a speech explaining his actions, which NBC Chicago posted on YouTube. “They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore. Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and can now reach the American Homeland” President Trump said (3:30-3:54). This statement was backed with no evidence.
It has been reported that missiles can reach 1,500 to 2,000 miles, which is enough to strike Israel and the outskirts of Europe. It is not enough to reach the States. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/irans-missile-reach-whats-range-now-how-close-us
“The lives of many courageous American heroes may be lost and we will have casualties,” said President Trump when asked about the incident.
The bombs did strike the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has been pronounced dead at the age of 86. Following this, Iran created a new three-person council consisting of the moderate president, Masoud Pezeskhian, the hard-line of the judiciary,Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and a senior cleric, Alireza Arafi.
At least 153 victims have been confirmed dead after the U.S-Israeli strike on an all-girl’s elementary school, and Iran has vowed to avenge their leader. They refuse to do further negotiations with the United States at this time.
President Trump’s decision to attack Iran has been met with opposing reactions. Some say President Trump is fully within his right to do so, while many representatives have opposed his decision.
Rep. Ilhan Omar posted on X, “President Trump is unilaterally dragging this nation into an illegal and unjustified war with Iran without congressional authorization, without a clear objective, and without any imminent threat to the United States. This is a reckless abuse of power that puts both innocent civilians and American lives on the line for a conflict the American people do not want.” https://x.com/Ilhan/status/2027760101684134083
On the other hand, on X, Speaker Mike Johnson created a post stating that he agrees with President Donald Trump’s response to Iran. He believes these are the repercussions Iran faces for, in his words, “their evil actions.” He states that President Trump and the Administration took every opportunity to create a diplomatic environment to come to a peaceful conclusion.
“Iran and its proxies have menaced America and American lives, undermined our core national interests, systematically destabilized the Middle East, and threatened the security of the entire West,” said Johnson. https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/2027741976632631497
The general consensus is Iran may have posed a threat, but it was in no way imminent. President Donald Trump promised no wars in his campaign and early presidency, and he has created a “war of choice,” as Kamala Harris has stated.
