Tensions Escalate Between the US and Iran

Tensions are rising between the United States and Iran. One year after leaving the Iran nuclear deal, the US has sent troops and new weapons to Iran and both sides fear that there is a possibility of war.

In an attempt to quell those fears, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated at a press conference that the US “doesn’t want war.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has echoed this statement. However, some fear that recent diplomatic moves by the US have worsened the relationship between the two countries.

President Trump has reportedly made attempts to contact Iran, including asking Swiss government officials for a number to reach Tehran. This approach differs greatly from that of some members of Trump’s cabinet. National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary Pompeo are both hardliners against Iran. Previously, Bolton has stated that Iran posed an “imminent danger” to the United States. Pompeo canceled a trip to Germany to go to Baghdad to warn of the possibility of war with Iran.

Consensus about a decision to prepare for war seems to be similarly split among Iran government officials. The Ayatollah called current talks between the US and Iran “poison.” Iran has maintained that if they were to go to war with the US that it would be a drawn out conflict. “We have a lot of capabilities,” said Hossein Kanani Moghadam, former Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Nene Narh-Mensah of Montgomery Blair High School