Sen. Murphy on FTN: This Administration's Iran Policy Has Been a Disaster From the Very Beginning

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release:

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- Click here to view interview in its entirety (https://www.cbsnews.com/video/murphy-says-soleimani-strike-could-put-u-s-on-a-course-for-war-with-iran/)

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U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, on Sunday appeared on CBS Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan to discuss the recent airstrike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander General Qasem Soleimani. During the interview, Murphy said it's incumbent upon the Trump administration to brief Congress on the evidence to back up their claim that an attack against the U.S. was imminent, and what the implications are for U.S. national security as a result of taking out a top level Iranian official without congressional authorization.

"[T]he responsibility is on the [Trump] administration to prove to us that by taking out the second most powerful political figure inside Iran, they are preventing more attacks rather than inspiring additional attacks," said Murphy. "...[Y]ou can already see the consequences to U.S. security in the region with, as you have noted, the beginning of the process to expel American forces from Iraq."

Murphy continued: "We do not generally execute high-level political figures of sovereign nations, in part, because we know that that opens a Pandora's box that may expose American officials to assassination, but also because we know that ultimately that might get more Americans killed."

Murphy added: "This administration's Iran policy has been a disaster from the very beginning. Iran is more powerful today than at the beginning of the Trump administration. They have restarted their nuclear program, they have more influence in places like Yemen, and in Syria, and now they are on the verge of launching potentially disastrous strikes against the United States. That is a disaster from the beginning to the end of this administration's policy towards Iran."

Click here to view the entirety of Murphy's interview with Margaret Brennan. (https://www.cbsnews.com/video/murphy-says-soleimani-strike-could-put-u-s-on-a-course-for-war-with-iran/)