Sen. Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power The Memo: Trump's strengths complicate election picture MORE (R-Utah) said in an interview that aired Sunday that he believes war with Iran is "not going to happen."

He said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he doesn't believe President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE or his hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton John BoltonMaximum pressure is keeping US troops in Iraq and Syria Woodward book trails Bolton, Mary Trump in first-week sales Ex-NSC official alleges 'unprecedented' intervention by White House aides in Bolton book review MORE, want war with Tehran.

“I don’t believe for a minute that either the president or John Bolton…has any interest in going to the Middle East and going to war. That’s just not going to happen. There’s no interest in doing that,” said Romney, a frequent critic of Trump who sits on the Senate foreign relations committee.

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Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been building since Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Obama-era nuclear pact in 2018 because he said the agreement did not adequately address Tehran’s influence in the region or its missile programs.

Last week, Trump dismissed a report saying that his team was preparing to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East, but said he would send more if he had to. He also said he did not want to go to war with Iran.

The Washington Post reported that Trump was frustrated with advisers such as Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over their hardline positions on Iran and wanted to speak leaders in Tehran himself.

An Iranian military official said last week that the U.S. was "holding a gun" at Iran while calling for talks.

As the hostilities escalated, the State Department last Wednesday moved to evacuate non-emergency personnel from Iran's neighbor, Iraq.