Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, is “very concerned” about Iran’s shooting an American drone, saying the “whole situation… is fraught with peril,” on CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday.
“This whole situation in my view is fraught with peril in that if there’s any kind of a kinetic strike by either country, it can quickly escalate to something that could be akin to a war,” said Hirono, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“We know that the president doesn’t want to go to war with Iran. He has said so. We need Iran to come to the negotiation table from the Iranians’ viewpoint. I think there’s a mistrust of the United States because we ceremoniously pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal, and so I think their perspective is how are we suppose to believe the United States is going to keep its word,” she added.
“We need to create an environment where both sides, particularly at this time the Iranians, believe that it is time to come to the negotiation table. Apparently, it’s not that time yet, so miscalculations can happen.”
The senator also addressed President Donald Trump’s Wednesday remark that Americans “had nothing to worry about” concerning Iran.
“I’m glad that he thinks there’s nothing to worry about, maybe that’s his perspective, but I think if you were to talk to past people in the intel community or people of [U.S.] Central Command — there’s nothing to worry about? Is that why we’re sending a thousand more troops to the Middle East?” she asked.
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