Thread by @RepRoKhanna

Obama spent political capital to avoid war with Iran, & gave us a blueprint for positive US foreign policy engagement across the world. As Trump/Bolton unravel the progress Obama made amidst escalating tensions, I thought I’d make sure we're all up to speed on how we got here 1/

Obama admin officials like @wendyrsherman, @JohnKerry, Jake Sullivan, and @brhodes skillfully negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (#JCPOA) to ensure Iran would not build a nuclear bomb 2/

Post-deal, Iran was in compliance, as were our European allies, and the world was a safer place without a nuclear Iran.

But in May 2018, Trump withdrew. Here’s an article about what that meant in the immediate aftermath of the decision 3/ vox.com/world/2018/5/8…

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had to convince hardliners like the Ayatollah to even start talks with the U.S. Iran agreed to the deal, complied with the terms, & was willing to engaged in talks to avoid war. 4/
washingtonpost.com/opinions/iran-…

That brings us to today, where the US
1) Named the IRGC a terrorist org, leading Iran to name the US military as terrorists
2) Implemented oil sanctions, hurting Iranians & making the regime more hardline
3) Sent aircraft carrier to the region, a needless and risky provocation 5/

All of these stand alone as dangerous actions. Together, they make war with Iran all the more likely, and work to unravel the incredible diplomatic progress made under Obama 6/

Congress must make it clear to Trump and his team by blocking any funds for war with Iran. We are also ready to invoke the War Powers Resolution as we did with Yemen 7/7