Democratic senator: Attacks on Saudi oil refineries ‘may call for military action against Iran’

Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.) said Monday that the U.S. may need to use military force against Iran if intelligence reports determine Tehran was behind recent attacks on two Saudi oil refineries.

“This may well be the thing that calls for military action against Iran if that’s what the intelligence supports,” Coons said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”

{mosads}Coons said it “seems credible” that Iran is responsible for Saturday’s attacks, arguing that the Houthis — the Yemeni rebels supported by Iran — don’t have the “sort of advanced drones that carried out” the strikes.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strikes, but U.S. officials have blamed Iran.

Liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org criticized Coons’s remarks about possible military action, calling the comments “reckless.”

“Senator Coons going on Fox and giving ammunition to Trump administration war hawks who are trying to push the U.S. into a costly, avoidable war with Iran is shameful and beyond dangerous,” MoveOn campaign director Justin Krebs said in a statement.

The U.S. should be pursuing diplomacy, not war, and not taking marching orders from the Saudi regime. Here’s our statement from MoveOn’s Justin Krebs on @ChrisCoons‘ comments on Fox on a potential march to war w/ Iran. He’ll be hearing from MoveOn members today. pic.twitter.com/pRVzAMjqbo

— MoveOn (@MoveOn) September 16, 2019

MoveOn said its Delaware members will reach out to Coons and ask him to pursue diplomacy.

Coons’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.