SHAFAQNA– Facing increasing pressure to end all U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war crimes in Yemen, The Trump administration on Thursday attempted a deflection, accusing Iran of stepping up violations of a U.N. ban on arms exports and threatens Iran to use military action against Iran.
In a press conference on Thursday, Brian Hook, the special representative for Iran and senior policy advisor to the secretary of state, unveiled what he claimed are pieces of Iranian weaponry discovered in Yemen and Afghanistan.
the display was a political stunt by the Trump administration .
“I think right now, while we have the military option on the table, our preference is to use all of the tools that are at our disposal diplomatically,” he said.
Hook claimed that The Iranian threat is growing, and we are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to act.
The presentation, the second since December, is both part of the administration’s broader effort to rally support for its campaign to isolate Tehran and a way to push back against congressional criticism of its continued support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
It appeared designed to showcase the key role Saudi Arabia can play in helping the United States fend off Iran’s influence in the Middle East.
The presentation comes just a day after a large bipartisan majority in the Senate voted to advance a resolution demanding an end to U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen conflict. The 63-37 vote margin reflected broad concerns about the U.S. role in the war and growing anger among lawmakers over the Trump administration’s continued support for the Saudi government following the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Foreign Policy reported.
Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were on Capitol Hill on Wednesday ahead of the Senate vote to attempt to head off momentum for the resolution. The two argued that withdrawing U.S. support from the war would undermine efforts to improve Saudi targeting and broker peace, Trump, The Hill told.
Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with weaponry.