“Throughout this accelerating process of military and diplomatic escalation, the US has not produced any firm, on-the-record evidence of hostile Iranian action. For anybody who recalls the disinformation, untruths and downright lies that preceded the Iraq invasion, the similarities with Iran are uncanny – and disturbing…

“[The Trump administration has set a] trap over proxy forces. Official policy now states that ‘any attack on US interests or on those of our allies’ will be met with ‘unrelenting force’ directed at Iran. Any one of dozens of pro-Iran Shia militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria or Yemen, or any terrorist group or individual wishing to make trouble, potentially has the power to provoke direct US-Iran armed confrontation by attacking ‘US interests and allies’ anywhere at all… On both sides the potential for miscalculation – of war by accident – is massive.”
Simon Tisdall, The Guardian

“As tightening sanctions cripple the Persian Gulf nation, an American carrier group is rushed to the region and nonemergency personnel are evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the U.S. Consulate in Erbil — a step not taken even when Islamic State terrorists were rampaging across Iraq in 2014 —Trump needs to explain what he is trying to achieve… There’s no question Iran is a bad actor in the Middle East, growing its ballistic missile program and using proxy forces in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen to provoke violence and instability. But how Trump intends to change this is not at all clear.”
Editorial Board, USA Today

“Iran’s population is over twice that of Iraq or Afghanistan, and its landmass is almost as large as Western Europe… [according to Gil Barndollar, director of Middle East Studies at the Center for the National Interest] The entire active duty U.S. Army and Marine Corps today totals a bit over 600,000 troops. That is not enough men to invade Iran. Even if you mobilized the entire National Guard and Reserves, you would not feel comfortable invading Iran with a force that size.”
D. Parvaz, ThinkProgress

“In 2012, a group of former diplomats and generals estimated that U.S. airstrikes would set back Iran’s nuclear program ‘for up to four years.’ The nuclear deal did far better: It imposed limits on Iran’s nuclear program for 15 years and resulted in the elimination of 97 percent of Iran’s fissile material. If the U.S. goal is to stop Iran’s nuclear program, it would reenter the nuclear deal rather than bomb Iran.”
Max Boot, Washington Post

“Western governments sometimes forget that the Iranian government is not a monolithic entity, and that the officials they are used to dealing with, such as president Hassan Rouhani and foreign minister Javad Zarif, are under constant pressure from hardliners who point to the lack of any return on the investment Iran made four years ago [in working out a deal]… Tehran should call me, the president says, perhaps not realising that there would be huge political consequences for anyone who did… [Yet] some form of direct communication is essential: both sides should move quickly to activate private channels.”
Peter Westmacott, The Guardian

“Is America headed for a war involving Iran? Actually, we’re already mired in one. It’s the unconscionable war in Yemen, where we are complicit in the deaths of almost a quarter million Yemenis so far, many of them children who have starved to death… Let’s work to reduce the risk of a war directly with Iran. But let’s also not forget this old, shameful war outside Iran’s borders.”
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times