House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that advisors to President Trump are attempting to undercut his stated desire to avoid war with Iran.
“The president has said that he doesn’t want war, but nonetheless, his people, and I don’t know whether there is [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo or [National Security Advisor John] Bolton or both, seem to be taking actions to undercut that ambition to stay out of war,” Schiff said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
{mosads}Schiff also noted that Bolton was announcing new sanctions on Iran at the same time Trump was “apparently” sending a message to Iran through Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the U.S.’ willingness to negotiate.
“Now, is that an effort to scuttle the president’s effort to initiate a dialogue? It certainly seemed to have that effect,” Schiff said.
Schiff called the idea that a sustained pressure campaign could force Iran back to the table “dangerously naïve,” saying Iranian aggression was proof that the U.S.’ 2018 exit from the Iranian nuclear deal “has not made us safer.”
However, Schiff was aligned with the Trump administration on Iran’s responsibility for the attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, saying there was “no question that Iran’s behind the attacks.”
“I think the evidence is very strong and compelling, in fact I think this is a Class A screw-up by Iran,” he said. “I can imagine there are some Iranian heads rolling from that botched operation.”
U.S. and British diplomats have blamed Iran for the attack but the owner of one of the tankers as well as Germany’s foreign minister have pushed back on the assertions.