In response to reports that war powers resolutions will be introduced in both the House and Senate to prevent President Trump from waging an unauthorized war against Iran, J Street’s president Jeremy Ben-Ami released the following statement:

“In the wake of the administration’s reckless targeted assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the president has made truly horrifying threats to attack Iran with ‘disproportionate’ violence and to target sites ‘important to Iranian culture.’ We face the nightmare of an out-of-control president brazenly threatening to carry out war crimes.

“It is vital for the maintenance of our democracy, the security of our country and the safety of the world that Congress take urgent, decisive action to prevent the president from carrying out a disastrous, unauthorized war of choice with Iran. Congress must swiftly pass these war powers resolutions and other measures that reassert their constitutional authority to decide whether, when and where our country goes to war.

“The president’s decision to unilaterally violate the JCPOA nuclear agreement, implement a so-called ‘maximum pressure’ campaign and now assassinate Soleimani has only strengthened Iranian hardliners, further destabilized the region and potentially triggered a new spiral of escalatory violence. He and his saber-rattling advisers are leading us eagerly toward an abyss that will endanger American servicepeople, our allies in Israel and the Middle East and millions of Iranian civilians caught in the crossfire.

“President Trump and Secretary Pompeo may want a war, but the American people do not. Congress must stand up and do everything in its power to restrain the White House — before it’s too late.”