Attacks on Iran: US and Israel are committing 'a crime of aggression,' says Bernie Sanders' former adviser

After an explosion was reported in Tehran on February 28, 2026. ATTA KENARE/AFP

In the United States, Democrats are focused on domestic issues. But the electoral defeat in 2024 and Donald Trump's international missteps – the latest of which occurred on Saturday in Iran – are also forcing them to consider what an alternative foreign policy might look like. Matthew Duss, former advisor on these issues to Senator Bernie Sanders and executive vice president of the Center for International Policy think tank, is one of the influential voices in the progressive camp.

What is your reaction to the launch of an unprecedented military operation against Iran?

The United States and Israel's launch of a regime-change war in Iran is a crime of aggression, one of the gravest possible violations of international law. There's no plausible case that Iran poses an imminent threat to the United States, and the administration barely even bothered to try to make such a case. This is an illegal and unnecessary war of choice that endangers millions of people across the Middle East, including tens of thousands of US service members. This war is, unfortunately, the culmination of decades of a militarist foreign policy, which Trump promised to end.