(Bloomberg) -- Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, one of the top contenders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said it would be “an unmitigated disaster” if attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf this week were used as a reason for war against Iran.
“Attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman are unacceptable and must be fully investigated,” said Sanders, who has long opposed overseas conflicts, including the Iraq War. “But this incident must not be used as a pretext for a war with Iran, a war which would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States, Iran, the region and the world.”
In a statement Friday, Sanders insisted that because Congress hasn’t authorized a war with Iran, a “unilateral U.S. attack on Iran would be illegal and unconstitutional.”
Sanders’s comments came hours after Trump said in a Fox News interview that “Iran did do it, and you know they did it,” vowing to ensure the key shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz won’t be closed.
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