Aftandilian in The Arab Weekly on the U.S. and Iran
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent Op-Ed on concerns in United States Congress over the mounting tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “US Congressional Concerns Mount Over Escalating US-Iran Tensions,” was published in The Arab Weekly on June 23, 2019.
From the text of the article:
US President Donald Trump’s decision to send an additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East and the Iranian downing of a US drone increased concerns in the US Congress that the United States is heading towards war with Iran.
Although there is no support for the Iranian regime in the US Capitol, many members of Congress said they are worried that Trump is stumbling into a war, encouraged by hawkish aides, such as the national security adviser John Bolton, who advocated bombing Iran when he was a private citizen.
This comes after events since May in which Trump has threatened Iran. Politico, a Washington publication, reported that Trump’s aides have made the case that the president has the authority to take military action against Iran, citing the Authorisation for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).
This legislation was passed by Congress after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and was directed against al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies, even though it has been used against other groups, such as the Islamic State.
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999).