The AP’s live coverage of Trump’s attack on Iran is interesting.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its government from further threatening international peace and security.
He says Canada is clear in its position that “the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East.”
Trump is kind of the Iran of this part of the globe.
Britain, France and Germany are calling for a resumption of U.S.-Iran negotiations and condemned Iranian attacks on countries in the region. They did not comment on the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.
U.K. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a statement saying their countries didn’t take part in the strikes on Iran, but are in close contact with the U.S., Israel and partners in the region. The three countries have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution over Iran’s nuclear program.
Cautious. Very cautious.
One of the senior U.S. lawmakers recently briefed by Trump administration officials on Iran says that the United States is entering a “war of choice.”
“Everything I have heard from the administration before and after these strikes on Iran confirms this is a war of choice with no strategic endgame,” said Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. He also expressed his concerns to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio directly that military action in the region “almost never ends well for the United States.”
“It does not appear that Donald Trump has learned the lessons of history,” Himes said.
Now there’s a surprise.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced support for the military strikes on Iran, calling the country “an accomplice of Putin” for supplying Shahed drones and the technology for Moscow to produce them and other weapons to Russia during its four-year war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy posted on X that the emphasis now should be to save as many lives as possible and prevent any expansion of the war. “It is important that the United States is acting decisively. Whenever there is American resolve, global criminals weaken. This understanding must also come to the Russians,” he said.
But unfortunately Trump is a global criminal himself.
Iran responds by…attacking Saudi Arabia. Makes sense.
Saudi Arabia says Iran targeted its capital, Riyadh, and its eastern region in an attack.
Saudi Arabia made the announcement on its state-run Saudi Press Agency. It called the attack “blatant and cowardly” and said it was repelled. Saudi Arabia had reached a Chinese-mediated detente with Iran in 2023.
“That bastard Trump has attacked us – we must attack Saudi Arabia! That’ll teach him!”
Right target, but you’re supposed to get permission first.
Hakeem Jeffries objects to the manner.
The U.S. House Democratic leader says that “Iran is a bad actor and must be aggressively confronted for its human rights violations, nuclear ambitions, support of terrorism and the threat it poses to our allies like Israel and Jordan in the region.”
But Jeffries has said in a statement that outside “exigent circumstances,” the president “must seek authorization for the preemptive use of military force that constitutes an act of war.”
U.S. President Donald Trump “failed to seek Congressional authorization prior to striking Iran,” Jeffries said. He also said that the latest round of strikes “has left American troops vulnerable to Iran’s retaliatory actions.”
We all await developments.
