(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) warned President Donald Trump’s threat to intervene against Iran if the regime deploys violence against protesters “isn’t about freedom of speech” but “about the dollar, oil, and Israel.”
The rebuke came hours after Trump warned Tehran via Truth Social on Friday that the United States was “locked and loaded and ready to go” should Iranian authorities violently suppress widening anti-government demonstrations which started Sunday. Human rights monitors say at least 29 demonstrators have been detained, while Iranian media reported three protesters killed.
Massie, however, rejected the framing of the pretext outright in a post to X, instead saying that the president’s threat was about “oil.” He also cautioned Trump that any military action would “require Congressional authorization” while suggesting he concentrate on “problems at home.”
Massie opposed Trump’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last year arguing that Iran posed “no imminent threat.”
Iran is the fourth largest oil producer in OPEC. Tehran responded angrily to Trump’s language, threatening US troops in the region should strikes take place and claiming without further evidence that the president’s rhetoric was proof that domestic demonstrations were the result of foreign influence.
