Sen. Joe Manchin Thursday said the United States has kept its pressure on Iran by doubling down on sanctions, but it still needs its allies more than ever.
"We have shown that with the U.K.," the West Virginia Democrat told Fox News' "America's Newsroom," while commenting on the news that Iran tried to seize a British oil tanker. "(The U.K.) is interjecting, getting involved in this, basically being able to intervene to prevent a catastrophe."
Meanwhile, Europe is accepting that Iran is up to no good, Manchin agreed, explaining that he did not vote in favor of the Iran nuclear deal because he did not believe Iran planned to honor it.
"They are going to walk away and say the Americans walked away first," said Manchin. "I never thought we should give them the money that we gave them up front, never held them accountable for their actions. They never did anything to show their sincerity, and now we are seeing exactly what they intended."
Manchin also Thursday commented on the growing divide in the Democratic Party, saying that he does believe that most Democrats and Republicans are like him and do not fall far from the center.
"People are not going to go to these extremes, and it does not play well in my state or rural America' even in many parts of suburban America," said Manchin.
He said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems to be trying to correct the divisions, and he admires her for that.
"We have seen Nancy being extremely liberal, but we are finding out that she is not where we might have thought that she was before," Manchin said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.