Sen. Mark Kelly urges departure from ‘flailing’ Iran war strategy: ‘They’re stuck’
Washington Examiner · RC · trust 44/100
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) urged the Trump administration to bring a swift end to the Ir a n war as the conflict remains unresolved.
Speaking with CBS News host Margaret Brennan on Sunday, Kelly criticized President Donald Trump for bringing the nation into war without a “strategic goal” and War Secretary Pete Hegseth for bombing Tehran to the point that the United States has a munitions shortage.
“They’re flailing, they’re stuck, they’re responsible for this, and the president is the one that has to try to figure out a way out of this,” he said of the administration on Face the Nation .
“I would suggest to him, though, that the solution is not to do the same thing that he’s been doing — not to have his real estate buddy and his son-in-law in charge of a negotiation,” the senator said of U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner , who have taken the lead on peace talks with Iran.
Kelly argued it would be better to have diplomats who “know how to do this, how to talk to the Iranians, and put a coalition together, bring our allies back together.”
Trump, the Arizona Democrat said, has “alienated not only our GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] allies but our European allies as well, and it’s just making this much harder for him to figure out a way out.”
Meanwhile, Kelly has been critical of Trump’s war with Iran since its start in February. The senator is a retired Navy captain, combat veteran, and former astronaut who now serves on the Senate armed services and intelligence committees.
In a Truth Social post late Saturday, Trump announced he called off pending U.S. airstrikes against Iran after Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East convinced him to refrain from ordering further military action in light of a rough framework for a peace deal.
“We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” Trump said. “This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”
“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” he added. “The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE.”
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