Chapter 1: What is the current state of U.S.-Iran relations?
So could the third time be the charm? The United States and Iran are in Geneva for, yes, a third round of nuclear talks, which could end in a deal or with violence. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words. We will never have a nuclear weapon. That's President Trump during Tuesday's State of the Union address. My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy.
But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can't let that happen. I mean, I'm totally in favor of regime change, but I think you can't just announce it in one speech and then expect that everybody will line up behind you.
I think this is a political mistake he may be about to make, but it's typical of the way he proceeds. This is John Bolton, who is now a vocal critic of President Trump. He once served as national security advisor during Trump's first term. He's also a former U.N. ambassador.
And he told NPR that he didn't think Trump made a case for war to the American people because he thinks Trump is not even sure he wants war. I don't think Trump has necessarily made up his mind either what his objective is in a possible use of military force or what the quantum of that force would be.
Meanwhile, not everyone in Congress is OK with the idea that President Trump could proceed with military action against Iran without first seeking the sign-off of lawmakers. Consider this. Members of Congress have filed war powers resolutions in both the House and Senate to restrict President Trump from attacking Iran without congressional approval.
We speak with one of the lawmakers pushing the resolutions, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. 🎵 🎵 It's Consider This from NPR. It's in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11, where the U.S. Constitution empowers Congress, not the president, to declare war. Of course, anyone versed in recent U.S. history will know that U.S.
presidents have authorized plenty of military action without Congress first signing off. One timely example, last year the U.S. struck three nuclear sites in Iran, joining Israel in its fight against the country. Right now, the U.S. has massively built up military forces in the Middle East, and this week it's conducting diplomatic talks with Iran.
Members of Congress are trying to prevent President Trump from acting without congressional approval, and one of them is Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Welcome back. Elsa, great to be with you. Thanks. Great to have you. So when do you expect to vote on this resolution? Also, it will happen early next week.
Even as I sit here talking to you, it's being negotiated, but it will be in the first couple of days of next week when we're back in session Monday. Okay. But I have to ask because previous votes on war powers resolutions like over Venezuela, over last year's strikes on Iran, they have failed. Almost all Republicans have voted against them. So why does this moment feel any different to you?
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Chapter 2: Why is Congress pushing for a war powers resolution?
Well, a war is a good idea or a bad idea. And if it's a bad idea, I don't think you should bluff it to try to get the upper hand in a negotiation. It's a bad idea, in this case, in my view. But the fact of the discussions even today is one of the reasons why, even though my resolution was ripe for voting this week, we decided a few days out in the future, likely next week, would be preferable.
Let that negotiation proceed. Let's do all we can to do what we did 10 years ago and find a diplomatic deal to avoid the need for war. You oppose the Trump administration's claiming of powers that you believe belong to Congress constitutionally. You also oppose war, war with Iran and the repression by the regime in Iran.
So then what is your larger preferred path forward here when it comes to the regime there? Well, look, I do think the tools that we have, the sanctions tools and others, have made a huge impact on the regime. And it's put the regime in a place, as was the case in 2016, the regime came to the table and negotiated the nuclear deal, not because of the threat of war,
What was real was the sanctions effect on the Iranian economy. That brought them to the table. We reached that deal. But then we also maintained the ability to use sanctions against Iran for non-nuclear activity, missiles, crackdowns on human rights. So I think we should try to return to that.
Let's get a deal on the nuclear program and then use these other tools that we have to try to deal with non-nuclear activities that are causing instability in the region. That was Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez-Hansay and Karen Zamora with audio engineering by Ted Meebane. It was edited by Patrick Jern-Watananen and Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sammy Yannigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang.
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