Washington, D.C. — July 12, 2018 — In response to President Trump’s statement at a NATO press conference that “there might be an escalation between us and the Iranians,” Jon Rainwater, Executive Director of Peace Action, released the following statement:

“Trump’s cavalier attitude about escalation with Iran is steadily increasing the risk of war. We can’t let growing familiarity with Trump’s bellicose rhetoric cause us to ignore this growing danger. By unilaterally withdrawing from the Iran agreement without cause and effectively waging a trade war with Iran as well as our allies, the administration appears to be intentionally stoking escalation.

“After conceding the likelihood of escalation, Trump repeated the administration’s delusional position that Iran will cave and accept a new more onerous deal with the U.S. Everyone following this issue knows Iran will never accept the Trump administration’s list of sweeping concessions they say are required for a ‘new Iran deal.’ That’s not accidental. Taken together, the administration’s efforts to sink Iran’s economy and its utterly unrealistic demands for a new agreement suggest that escalation with Iran is a goal rather than an unintended consequence of the administration’s actions.”

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Founded in 1957, Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze), the United States’ largest peace and disarmament organization, with over 100,000 paid members and nearly 100 chapters in 36 states, works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights and support nonmilitary solutions to international conflicts. The public may learn more and take action at www.PeaceAction.org.

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