Is War With Iran Coming? Will Congress Have a Say?
U.S. military officials say they are prepared to “go far, deep and big” if negotiations over a nuclear deal with Iran go south. Meanwhile, Iran’s military is bracing for war. And while tensions between the two nations — three if you include Israel — are running high, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has already told President Donald Trump that Iran isn’t building nuclear weapons.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in Oman on Saturday. U.S. officials described them as “productive,” and Iranian officials said they were “positive so far.”
On Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told FOX News’ Maria Bartiromo that Trump “is dead serious” about prohibiting Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Hegseth said his boss wants the deal done peacefully, but added that he’s open to doing it the hard way as well:
But he’s also dead serious that if we can’t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options to include my department to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb. We hope we never get there. We really do. What we’re doing with the Houthis, and what we’re doing in the region, we’ve shown a capability to go far, to go deep, and to go big.
.@SecDef: “[@POTUS is] dead serious that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon … He’s also dead serious that if we can’t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options.” pic.twitter.com/oVwUw16AcC
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 13, 2025
Trump has lobbed a slew of military threats against Iran.
In September, during his reelection campaign, he said eliminating Iran’s belligerence could mean “We are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens.”
On March 30, he said that if Iran “[doesn’t] make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
Trump also threatened Iran before approving attacks against the Houthis in Yemen earlier this month. He said:
Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN. And IRAN will be held
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
