US Senator Kaine Warns Of ‘Forever War,’ Pushes Legislation To Curb Trump’s Ability To Use Military Force Against Iran

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia introduced legislation on Monday aimed at preventing U.S. President Donald Trump from launching a military strike against Iran without congressional approval.

“It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States,” Kaine said in a statement. 

“The recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict. The American people have no interest in sending servicemembers to fight another forever war in the Middle East.”

Kaine’s resolution is privileged under U.S. law, meaning the Senate must consider and vote on it promptly.

It requires that any hostilities with Iran must be explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for the use of military force. However, it would not prevent the U.S. from defending itself against an imminent attack.

The move comes amid intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel. Iranian missile strikes on Tel Aviv and Haifa early Monday killed at least eight people and destroyed several homes, according to Reuters. 

In response, Israel’s defense minister warned that residents of Tehran would “pay the price and soon.” However, he later clarified that the government has no intention of directly targeting civilians in a post on X. 

Iran said its parliament is preparing a bill to exit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, just hours before the G7 Summit is scheduled to take off. Tehran insists it remains opposed to developing weapons of mass destruction.

Publicly, both Trump and his administration repeatedly denied direct involvement in Israel’s strikes on Iran, emphasizing that the attacks were unilateral Israeli actions.

However, Trump has been using Israel’s attack against Iran to push for a new nuclear deal. Last week, he urged Iran to agree to a nuclear deal, warning that “the next already planned attacks” would be “even more brutal” if Tehran refused to cooperate. 

Broader markets were trending higher in pre-market trade on Monday. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) was 0.5% higher, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) gained 0.6%, and the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 ETF (QQQ), which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, climbed 0.7%. 

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Read also: Dow Futures Edge Up As Israel-Iran Conflict Spares Oil Capacity: US Steel, Tesla, Victoria’s Secret, Sarepta Among Stocks To Watch

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