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Image Captions:
- Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., is seen in the Capitol Visitor Center after an all members briefing on the attack on Israel on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
- Smokes raises from a building of the Soroka hospital complex after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran in Beersheba, israel, on Thursday.
- What We Know About Iran’s Nuclear Program
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Rep. Adam Smith,D-wash.,wants the U.S. to remain on the sidelines of Israel’s war with Iran. The ranking democrat on the House Armed services Committee told Morning Edition that there are too many unknowns that could put American troops in harm’s way.
Smith believes that Iran is likely pursuing a nuclear weapon, saying it’s not a secret that the Islamic regime has been “massively increasing their enrichment capacity.”
Though, he warns of unintended consequences of a military strike.
“If we get involved in this war, Iran will start hitting U.S.troops and then it becomes unpredictable, which is why I do not think that we should do this,” he said. There are roughly 40,000 U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East, according to the Pentagon.
President Donald Trump is reportedly considering striking one of Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. The Fordo Fuel Enrichment Plant is an underground facility and considered vital to Iran’s nuclear program. Publicly, the president remains uncommitted.
“I may do it, I may not do it. Nobody knows what I want to do,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “But I can say this: Iran’s got a lot of trouble and wants to negotiate.”
