Democratic senator says Trump on 'path toward deploying' US troops in Iran
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday told reporters he believes the Trump administration is "on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran".
Blumenthal was speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill after emerging from a classified briefing for members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
This comes as the Reuters news agency, citing unnamed sources, reported on Tuesday that at least 150 US troops have been wounded in the US-Israeli war on Iran thus far.
Eight others have been confirmed killed in the Gulf.
Blumenthal's comments may be the clearest indication yet as to what US President Donald Trump is contemplating doing next in the war on Iran, given Trump himself hasn't even provided the public with a clear rationale for the military action dubbed "Operation Epic Fury".
Democrats have blasted the president for not seeking congressional authorisation for the war, which, in theory, is within their purview, and for not being able to articulate exactly what he wants to accomplish, given he has criticised past wars and regime-change operations by the US in the Middle East.
"I emerge from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate," Blumenthal said.
"I am most concerned about the threat to American lives of potentially deploying our sons and daughters on the ground in Iran. We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops," he added.
Blumenthal also accused Russia and China of aiding Iran in the war.
"Literally, Russia seems to be aiding our enemy. Actively and intensively. With intelligence and perhaps with other means. And China may also be assisting Iran."
Mixed messaging
Asked to respond to Blumenthal's comments at her White House briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democratic lawmakers "are clearly being quite disingenuous".
"I wouldn't take Democrats at their word as for boots on the ground. The president has talked about this repeatedly. Wisely, he does not rule options out as commander-in-chief," she added.
Leavitt was also asked about Trump's insistence on choosing the next leader in Iran, and how that would not be considered an act of regime change.
Last week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters that the war is categorically not a regime-change operation, but that it may inadvertently cause a change in regime.
"It's obviously within the best interest of the United States and the West to no longer have a radical terrorist in charge of Iran," Leavitt said.
"We have objectives that we have laid out that the commander-in-chief wants to see achieved. When they are achieved, they will ultimately be up to the president to end this operation."
When pressed as to what the objectives are, Leavitt said it was to prevent Iran from ever acquiring "a nuclear bomb to threaten the United States".
According to mediator Oman, US negotiations with Iran last month on Tehran’s nuclear programme were nearing an agreement that all parties could have found acceptable.
However, it is now being reported that Trump's negotiating team, made up of peace envoy and real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no formal role within the US government, did not have the necessary technical expertise to understand that Iran had made significant concessions in the talks.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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