Congressman calls Iran sanctions an act of war

Republican Congressman Ron Paul says imposing sanctions against Iran are an act of war as the Congress voted 421-6 on a bill that changes the existing sanctions law by adding penalties for those that aid Iran’s petroleum, petrochemical, insurance, shipping and financial sectors.
“A vote for this … will show that it’s just one more step to another war that we don’t need,” the congressman said in a speech against the bill.

“We have not been provoked, [Iran] is not a threat to our national security and we should not be doing this. For the past 10 to 15 years we’ve been obsessed with this idea that we go to war and try to solve all the problems of the world. At the same time, it is bankrupting us.”

At a time when the U.S. has spent billions of dollars on a war with Iraq and Afghanistan, further involvement with Iran would just hurt the country – and especially the economy, he said, according to RT.

Imposing sanctions and blockading a country are an act of war – and the U.S. fights too many that it can’t afford.

Additionally, there is no evidence that Iran has ever enriched uranium above 20 percent – and the IAEA and CIA have determined that the country is not on the verge of building a nuclear weapon, Paul said.

By pressuring Iran to close down its nuclear power plants, to the point where the U.S. repeatedly imposes tough sanctions, Americans are simply preoccupying themselves with a country that has no intention of going to war.

“What we continue to be doing is obsess with Iran and the idea that Iran is a threat to our national security,” the congressman said.

Iran has no history of invading its neighbors, he said.

By voting for the Iran Sanctions bill, America is engaging in another costly mistake that mirrors the war against Iraq – a war that was a façade, based on a false idea that the country was hiding weapons of mass destruction, Paul said.