Members of the state’s all-Democrat congressional delegation are condemning Iran’s strike against Israel over the weekend and calling for stepped-up diplomacy to end the widening conflict.
Iran launched a missile and drone attack on Israel on Saturday in retaliation for the alleged Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy that took out two senior Iranian officers. Most of the drones and missiles were either shut down by Israeli, U.S. or British forces, or failed to hit their intended targets, authorities said.
Rep. Seth Moulton, a Salem Democrat, blasted the attacks and said Iran’s actions risk sparking a “catastrophic” Middle Eastern war that could drag the U.S. and other Israeli allies into the conflict.“Iran’s evil regime murders its own people at home and innocents abroad, funding terrorist groups across the Middle East — from Hamas and Hezbollah to the Houthis and proxies in Iraq that have killed scores of U.S. troops,” he said in a statement.
But Moulton, a Marine veteran, also urged Israel to show restraint in its response to the Iranian attacks and work toward a bilateral cease-fire in the Gaza strip.
“It is neither in America’s national security interests, nor in Israel’s, to escalate into a full regional war,” he said. “As Israel weighs its next steps, it is critical that it remains focused on finishing its operations in Gaza and achieving a cease-firefor- hostages deal – not on starting a new war while still having no endgame for their first.”