Tehran Times – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that the Trump administration does not have congressional authorization to go to war against Iran.
She told reporters that she backed what appeared to be U.S. President Donald Trump’s aversion to actual military conflict with Tehran, Reuters reported. “I like what I hear from the president — that he has no appetite on this,” she said. She noted, “This is part of a pattern that is not right because we have responsibilities — the responsibility in the Constitution is for the Congress to declare war, so I hope the president’s advisers recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way.”
The Washington Post, citing several unnamed U.S. officials, reported late Wednesday that Trump was frustrated that his advisers may be rushing into war and that he preferred a more diplomatic approach and direct talks with Iran.
Tension has been increasing in the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East region since the U.S. has made military threats against Iran and dispatched aircraft carrier to the regional waters and deployed Patriot missiles in certain regional countries. Iranian officials and analysts have said the dispatch of carriers to the region are just a “psychological warfare” against Iran.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has ruled out the possibility of war between the U.S. and Iran despite heightened tensions between the two sides. He said on Tuesday that Washington knows engaging in such a conflict would not be in its interest.
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami said on Sunday that vulnerability of U.S. aircraft carriers would prevent Washington from starting a war against Iran.
