President Donald Trump on Sunday said that his tweets would serve as prior notification to the US Congress if he did decide to strike against Iran again. “These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any US person or target, the United States will quickly and fully strike back, and perhaps in a disproportionate manner, Trump said in a tweet.
“Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!” said the president making it clear that he does not need Congressional approval about his any potential strike against Iran.
Top Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have criticized the US administration for not consulting with Congress before launching the strike that killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
Soleimani, 62, the head of Iran’s elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus, was killed when a US drone fired missiles into a convoy that was leaving the Baghdad International Airport early on Friday. The strike also killed the deputy chief of Iraq’s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force.
In the aftermath of Soleimani’s killing, Trump has warned Iran that the US has identified 52 possible targets in the country and will hit it harder than ever before if Tehran, which has vowed “severe revenge”, carries out any attack against America to avenge the killing of top military commander Qasem Soleimani.
On Sunday, Iran announced that it will no longer abide by the 2015 Nuclear deal. According to the 2015 Nuclear Deal, which is offcially called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and five permanent members of the security council plus Germany, Iran had agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium. It also was required to cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%, and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for next 13 years.