Democrats are raising alarms about Trump 'inching' toward war with Iran, but experts are torn over what happens next
"Iran nuclear deal: what has Tehran said and what happens next?"
John Haltiwanger May 8, 2019, 4:08 PM
President Donald Trump is "inching" the US toward war with Iran. Michael Gruber/Getty Images; Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Business Insider
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* The Trump administration on Sunday announced it's deploying military assets to the Middle East to counter threats from Iran, and Democrats are worried that the president is "inching" toward war.
* "The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack," National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a statement; the government has said little publicly about the threats made against the US.
* Some experts say fears President Trump wants a war with Iran are "overblown," but others are concerned Trump doesn't understand the potential for the situation to escalate.
* James Carafano, a national security expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told INSIDER that the US has "no interest in war" with Iran and "least of all the president."
* "This president's Iran policy is being driven by someone, John Bolton, with a well-documented history of misrepresenting intelligence to justify reckless military action," Matt Duss, foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's running for president, told INSIDER.