Jun 19, 2019

US lawmakers warned Wednesday against using a war authorization passed in the wake of September 11 for action against Iran, pressing a senior official to acknowledge that Tehran was not behind the 2001 attacks.

Brian Hoo

k, the US special representative on Iran, repeatedly declined to say if President Donald Trump legally enjoyed the right to attack Iran, echoing the non-committal comments in April before Congress by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"I'm not a War Powers Act scholar. I can only tell you that everything we would do would be lawful," Hook told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.

But pressed by Democratic Representative Brad Sherman on whether Iran was responsible for the deaths of Americans on September 11, 2001, Hook replied, "No."