Buttigieg: Iran situation ‘disturbingly reminiscent’ of lead-up to Iraq War

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said in an interview that aired Sunday that U.S. tensions with Iran are “disturbingly reminiscent” of the lead-up to the Iraq War. 

“There’s no question that Iran has a pattern of malign activities. There’s also no question that there is a pattern that is disturbingly reminiscent of the run-up to the war in Iraq in some cases being driven by the same people,” Buttigieg said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I mean, the fact that one of the architects of the Iraq war is the President’s national security adviser right now, when the President himself has pretended that he was against the Iraq War all along. This is shocking,” the South Bend, Indiana, mayor said referring to national security adviser John Bolton. {mosads}

Buttigieg has previously made similar comments, although tensions with Iran have heightened in recent days. The U.S. blamed Iran on attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman Thursday, accusing the country of using limpet mines on the tankers. Iran has denied involvement.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doubled down on blaming Iran on Sunday, saying in a “Fox News Sunday” appearance that it is “unmistakable what happened here.” 

Buttigieg is among two dozen people running for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.