The likelihood of a diplomatic solution to the hostilities between Iran and Israel will continue to drop if the United States gets further involved, Sen. Rand Paul warned on Newsmax Tuesday.
"One of the things I like about President [Donald] Trump is that he has shown restraint in the past and has shown some belief that intervention in the Middle East has led to unintended consequences," the Kentucky Republican said on "Newsline."
Paul said he hopes that the United States stays out of the war, and he believes negotiations are still possible.
"I think it's difficult to know how Iran is going to react," Paul said. "They could possibly say, Let's negotiate, and we'll work on a deal to make sure that no nuclear weapons are developed."
Or, he said, Iran could "make a sprint toward the nuclear weapon because of this."
"That's the unknown thing about the beginning of this war," the senator said. "I think if we get further involved, the likelihood of diplomacy gets lower and lower."
There has been talk about whether bunker buster weapons could wipe out some of Iran's nuclear facilities and prevent the country from getting a nuclear weapon, but Paul said he does not think that is a solution.
"I think everybody hopes that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon, but I don't think you can bomb away nuclear knowledge," he said. "It takes about a cup full of highly enriched uranium to create a bomb, so I think that the possibility of being able to bomb away a cup of highly enriched uranium is pretty small."
But if Iran is willing to negotiate even after its "incredible defeat by Israel," then the United States should "express all means" to make that happen, and not give up on it, Paul said.
Paul's comments came as Trump on Tuesday called for Iran's "unconditional surrender," and threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directly.
"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding," Trump said on social media. "He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don't want missiles shot at civilians or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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