Trump's Iran war left US 'less safe' with depleted arms: Mark Kelly

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly criticised Donald Trump for getting into the Iran war without a strategic plan, resulting in the depletion of crucial US munitions. Kelly said it will take years to replenish the arms, making the American people 'less safe'.

US Munitions Depleted by Iran War: Senator Kelly

Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly criticised US President Donald Trump in an interview to CBS on Sunday over the decision to get into the Iran war without any "strategic goal, plan or timeline in place", which has resulted in Washington expending and depleting munitions which would take years to replenish.

Senator Kelly said that while they had been briefed by the Pentagon on specific munitions such as the Tomahawks, ATACMS, SM-3, THAAD rounds, Patriot rounds, he called the numbers shocking due to Trump's decision to get into the Iran conflict. "It's shocking the how deep we have gone into these magazines, because this president got our country into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, and because of that, we've expended a lot of munitions, and that means the American people are less safe, whether it's a conflict in the western Pacific with China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted. You may have seen me ask the Secretary of Defence this question about how long it's going to take to replenish. We're talking about years," he said.

Kelly Questions War Costs and Goals

Kelly further decried the decision, questioning what the American people would derive from the conflict in West Asia and slammed Trump's decision as it resulted in increasing costs across all fronts. "What are the American people getting out of this? This president said he wasn't going to start any new wars. He was going to bring down costs. He's done exactly the opposite. War against Iran. Costs on everything are up," Senator kelly said.

Tensions in the Gulf Region

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported, citing a senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ahmad Zolghadr, who said that the United States is no longer able to "instill panic" in other countries by moving its aircraft carriers in international waters.

CENTCOM 'Redirects' Commercial Vessels

However, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) later on Sunday announced that its forces had "redirected" 61 commercial vessels as part of the persistent maritime siege of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump Criticises Iran's Response

As the security situation continues to evolve in the region, US President Donald Trump on Sunday came down heavily on Iran, expressing his displeasure over the response received from Tehran to end hostilities and establish peace amid the developing security situation in West Asia and the Gulf region, terming it completely unacceptable. The remarks came shortly after he lambasted former US presidents for their leniency and what he claimed of ensuring financial security towards Iran.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)