House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday said that diplomacy with Iranian leaders is essential amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran after a drone attack on Saudi oil production facilities for which the U.S. has blamed Iran.
While Yemen-based Houthi rebels with Iranian backing have claimed responsibility for the attack, Schiff said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “Iranian knowhow was definitely involved” in the attack, which he said “underscores what we’ve come to expect from this unending war in Yemen.”
{mosads}A Saudi-led coalition invaded Yemen in 2015 to attempt to restore the government after Houthis took control of the capital of Sana’a.
Schiff told CBS’s Margaret Brennan that the Trump administration’s 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran “has led Iran to engage in these escalatory tactics to drive us apart from our allies.”
“I think the president should engage in diplomacy, I think it’s the only way out of this situation,” Schiff said. “I don’t think the president should have withdrawn from a nuclear deal that Iran was complying with.”
Schiff added, “we do need to get back to diplomacy and there are openings to do so; there are voices within Iran, unusual voices, including arch-conservatives suggesting it’s time to start talking to the United States again. The U.S. should seize that opportunity.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran directly for the attack, saying there is “no evidence” it originated in Yemen despite the Houthis claiming credit for it. Iran has dismissed the U.S. claims.