U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Sunday that American forces "could get involved" in the intensifying military conflict that Israel started late last week with a barrage of attacks on Iran, prompting large-scale retaliatory strikes and grave warnings of a prolonged and catastrophic war.
Trump toldABC News senior political correspondent Rachel Scott that the U.S. is not currently involved in the conflict, which is false. The U.S. has helped Israel shoot down Iranian missiles, and American fighter jets are reportedly "patrolling the sky in the Middle East to protect personnel and installations." One Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that "there was full and complete coordination with the Americans" on Israel's early Friday bombardment of Iran, which set off the conflict.
But Trump's remarks Sunday signaled the potential for a deeper U.S. role in the war, setting off alarm among lawmakers who have warned that such involvement would be illegal as well as disastrous.
"If President Trump intends to get the U.S. more involved in the war between Israel and Iran by attacking Iran, he must come to the Congress, make his case, and secure an authorization before he pulls our country into yet another war in the Middle East," said Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) as Republican war hawks expressed support for U.S. intervention.
Brian Finucane, a senior adviser for the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group, stressed Sunday that "any U.S. attack on Iran would almost certainly be illegal."
"Hope President Trump realizes that letting Netanyahu drag him into an unnecessary war will make him look weak," Finucane wrote on social media.
On Monday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) unveiled a war powers resolution that would require congressional debate and a vote prior to any U.S. military action against Iran.
"It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States," said Kaine. "I am deeply concerned that the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict."
"This war is bad for Israel, Iran, and the United States—which is likely to be sucked into the vortex unless it takes a decisive stand for peace."
As Israel and Iran exchanged strikes over the weekend, Axiosreported that the Netanyahu government "has asked the Trump administration... to join the war with Iran" because Israel "lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment site, which is built into a mountain and deep underground."
"An Israeli official claimed to Axios that the U.S. might join the operation, and that President Trump even suggested he'd do so if necessary in a recent conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," the outlet added.
Iranian officials have said they view the U.S. as complicit in and largely responsible for Israel's assault, which—according to one human rights group—has killed more than 200 people so far. Iran's retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Israel have killed more than 20 people.
"The United States cannot play the role of an observer," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday. "It must either stop this aggression or accept the consequences of regional instability it has helped ignite."
Israel widened its assault on Iran on Sunday, with The Washington Postreporting that Israel's military targeted "Iranian energy production facilities, manufacturing plants, and aviation."
"Strikes hit airports, electronics manufacturing plants, police stations, an airplane maintenance site, and an office that coordinated Tehran's mosques," the newspaper reported. "Tehran residents also reported a number of explosions that appeared to target single vehicles in the city, stoking suspicion that targeted killings were being carried out with car bombs or small drone attacks."
U.S.-Iran nuclear talks that were scheduled for Sunday were called off, another indication that the ongoing Israeli attacks are sabotaging the prospect of a diplomatic agreement.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said Sunday that "death and destruction are mounting on both sides" and called on Trump to "use his leverage over Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the war."
"Absent this intervention, the death toll will rise, and more of each country will be left in ruins," the group said. "This war is bad for Israel, Iran, and the United States—which is likely to be sucked into the vortex unless it takes a decisive stand for peace."
"Israel started this war, and pressure must be on Israel to stop it," NIAC added. "Iran's foreign minister has also stated clearly that if Israel's attacks stop, so will Iranian retaliation. The path is open for Trump to end this bloody conflict. Any delay will lead to more death and suffering, and put diplomatic off-ramps further out of reach."